


Burn and Bloom

by jilliancares



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Phan Angst, Phan Fluff, Phan Smut, Phanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:52:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 61,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jilliancares/pseuds/jilliancares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil’s been hiding the fact that he’s an Earthbender for ten years, ever since it’s been considered illegal when the Fire Nation invaded. And, of course, the only solution to a random Fire Nation soldier seeing him earthbending is to kidnap him, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!! so this is my new fic, an atla au!! you don't need to have watched it to understand this fic (although i recommend watching it bc it's amazing plus if i make any references you'll be like ayyyee) but yeah basic things to know: not everyone can bend elements, only some, and certain cities are home to certain benders + normal people (although other benders could move there if they wanted) ex: omashu is an earthbender city. also all the animals here are genetic mutations but they're p straight forward bc it's just two animals hyphenated. ostrich-horse. platypus-bear. lion-turtle. you get the picture
> 
> okay i hope you enjoy!!!!

Phil was determined, he always had been. Ever since he was a little boy (much little-er than eight, mind you) he’d tried his best to become the greatest Earthbender alive. Of course, this probably wasn’t possible, seeing as it was definitely his own father who was the best. But he was a good teacher as well, and at only eight years old Phil could make the earth move at his whim.

It always made him happy, filled him with elation and strength, to feel the earth under his feet and shape it with his hands. Phil prided himself on his ability to entertain himself. Most kids his age often complained to their parents about boredom, but Phil could easily rid himself of boredom, just by sitting in his backyard. He would make a handful of pebbles float over his hand, or he’d throw a rock high into the air without even touching it. He’d stand on the ground and will it to go as high as he dared, before he balked and got scared, the wind too cold on his face. He would sit on a slab of rock, one that he had retrieved from the earth itself, and make it float a foot above the ground, just because he could.

What Phil wanted to do most, however, was to grow plants. A flower, to be specific. He still hadn’t mastered it, which made him angry, and usually he ended up giving up, doing something more fun with the earth instead. But Phil’s father was the best Earthbender ever, Phil was sure of it, and _he_  could grow flowers. It was an ancient earthbending secret, Phil’s dad had said, one that had been safely guarded by Earthbenders all their lives. Almost no one knew about the ancient ability, only Earthbenders, and even then, not all of them. Even those that did know about the ability usually chose not to believe it. People tended to think that it was a myth, but Phil knew that they were wrong.

And so Phil tried every day. He was determined, and one day he would know how to do it. One day he would grow a flower. No, he would grow an entire tree!

For now however, he just practiced, held handfuls of dirt in his hand and tried to make a flower grow from it. Usually the dirt just crawled around in his palm, which was also thanks to him, though it wasn’t the result that he’d wanted.

Flowers were special though. Phil knew they were, because his father had said so.

“Flowers are special, Phil,” he said often, procuring a flower seemingly from out of nowhere, always a blue one, from a small speck of dirt. “They’re magic,” he’d say.

“Magic?” Phil would scoff, giggling even as he did. Because his father always had a different answer, and Phil loved to hear them.

“Of course. How else would a magician pull a bouquet out of thin air?” or, “Haven’t you ever wondered how the littlest flowers can live to be the strongest?”

His father was amazing, Phil knew. He wanted only to be as good at earthbending as him one day. He wanted to make flowers, he wanted to make one and hand it to his dad and say, “this is for you, I made it with magic.” And his dad would laugh, and Phil would beam, and maybe then his dad would teach him another cool earth bending trick.

Currently, Phil was sat in a tree next to one of the main roads in town. He enjoyed sitting high above everyone else, watching people go about their day, hearing the clinking and rattling of merchant’s carts and shoppers walking by. Of course, he had a big slab of rock on his lap to entertain him.

Almost absently, he shaped it again and again, squeezing it between his fingers and feeling it mold to whatever he wanted. He squashed the earth into a little ball, and then he flattened it, as thin as it would go. Phil even made a lion-turtle from the rock, before smashing it flat and starting all over again.

It was while he was staring at the rock intensely, concentrating with all his might, willing himself to grow a flower, that he heard the commotion. Loud crashes and shouting echoing from down the street, growing louder and louder, closer to Phil and the denser part of the city. Then, through the leaves of the trees, Phil could see people in red outfits, riding atop ostrich-horses. Phil watched, frozen from his place in the tree, as the invaders stormed into the market, scaring all the townspeople.

“City of Omashu,” said one man loudly, circling around on his ostrich-horse. “You’ve officially been captured by the Fire Nation.”

There was a roar of outcry, people shouting and demanding answers, people crying and turning to their loved ones in confusion and fear. Why would the Fire Nation overtake the Earth Kingdom? What did they want?

“Silence!” cried the soldier, and immediately the surrounding people quieted. “There’s no use in fighting back, your king has already surrendered. Fire Lord Ozai is your leader now, as he will soon be to the rest of the world. As declared by Fire Lord Ozai, Earthbending is now illegal—” murmurs grew into shouts from the crowd, but the soldier shouted over them— “So if you’re an Earthbender then come forward now or face the consequences!”

A few people stepped forward uncertainly, Earthbenders, Phil recognized, and the Fire Nation handcuffed them and lead them to a caravan pulled by even more ostrich-horses. Phil watched in horror as people he knew and had even trained with were carted away, realizing that there were many more caravans just like the first waiting behind the soldiers.

“Fetch any and all Earthbenders you know!” the soldier commanded, and people scurried away into the shadows to hide or to sell out their neighbors, either from fear of the soldiers or jealousy of the power they’d never been able to hone.

Phil was terrified. He scrambled down the tree, careful to stay out of sight, and sprinted behind the nearest building, cutting through side streets and backyards, racing back to his house.

“Dad! Dad!” he called, pulling up short in front of his little house. He was breathing hard, and he looked to the left and right worriedly, before he slowly approached the front door. “Dad?” he whispered, as the front door creaked open.

“Phil?” a voice called, from the other room.

“Oh, Dad!” Phil cried, relieved, and he sprinted through the kitchen and into the other room, knocking the door open so hard it banged against the wall. He barreled into his father’s chest, burying his head against his father and sobbing quietly.

“Phil? What’s wrong?” his father whispered, stroking his hair and back carefully.

“The Fire Nation! They’ve invaded! They’re taking away the Earthbenders, saying that Earthbending’s illegal!”

His father paused, his hands stilling on Phil’s back, and then he sank to his knees in front of Phil, pulling him into his chest. “Listen to me, son,” he said quietly, in what Phil could only deem as his Serious Voice. Phil sniffled several times, but managed to stop crying, managed to look his father in the eye.

“What have I always told you about Earthbending?” he asked, reaching up to brush a tear from Phil’s cheek.

“Something to be proud of,” Phil mumbled, leaning heavily into his father. Fear and trepidation tangled in Phil’s chest. For some reason, this felt like a goodbye.

“It is,” his father said solemnly. “And I don’t want you to forget that. But listen to me now, okay?” He waited a moment, making sure that Phil was actually listening, before continuing. “You must not use your bending again.”

“ _What_?" Phil exclaimed, appalled. He couldn’t just _not_  use his bending! That was like refusing to use one of his hands, it was just a part of him!

“Philip,” his father said seriously, and Phil sniffled but remained quiet. “Forget that you can control the earth. If anyone asks if you’re an Earthbender, you say no, because bending is not always genetic. I want you to live a long, happy life. A free one. That’s what you deserve.”

“But Dad—”

“I have to go, you know I do,” his father whispered, pulling Phil into a hug once more. And Phil _did_  know. His father was the best Earthbender around, everyone knew it. Everyone knew _him_. There was no way he’d ever be able to avoid capture, not when he was so well known.

His dad kissed him firmly on top of the head. “I love you,” he said fiercely. It was only then that Phil realized he was still holding the rock he’d been manipulating up in the tree. His father took it from his hand and, moments later, was handing him a flower. A blue one.

“It’s special,” his father said sincerely. “Magic.”

“Magic?” Phil repeated, playing their age old game, well-worn after all the times they’d played it. But it was too late, because the door was already slamming shut behind Phil’s dad, and he was well and truly alone.

And Phil didn’t know why flowers were magic. At least, this time he didn’t.

—

“Do it,” his father barked. “It only hurts the cowardly.” Dan shrunk back in fear, extending his hand in front of him. He just had to do it, just once, just for a few seconds, and then his father would leave him alone.

Dan held his shaking hand before him, trying desperately to conjure flame. _Come on!_  he thought frantically, even as he prayed for it not to appear. He couldn’t help it though, he hated fire. He was terrified of it.

Dan’s father was a general in the Fire Nation army, and Dan was convinced that it was because of this that he pushed Dan so hard, that he so desperately wanted Dan to be strong and scary, not weak and scared of his own abilities. He couldn’t help it though. Dan knew that just because he was a Firebender didn’t mean that fire couldn’t hurt him. It could burn him just as easily as it could anyone else. He could feel the painful heat of the fire when he was forced to conjure it, the flame floating merely an inch above his hand.

He never wished to use his ability if he could help it. Fire was painful. Fire was destructive and horrible, something that could easily end lives. Dan despised being a Firebender, he knew that it wasn’t the right element for him. How could it be, when he was so busy being afraid of it all the time?

“Daniel,” his father practically growled, and Dan squared his small shoulders, taking a deep breath.

Dan was small, in all senses of the word. He was skinny and short, even for his age. All the other six year olds practically towered over Dan, and Dan cowered before them, he would admit. It was just that they were all so much stronger, so sure of their abilities and so unafraid of bending fire. Dan thought they were crazy, not being scared of the fact that they could control fire. If Dan could have it his way, he would never use his ability again.

His father wouldn’t like that, however. In fact, Dan was sure that he’d be kicked out of the family, his father deciding that he was an embarrassment and a disgrace. As if it wasn’t already enough that Dan was tiny, that he _looked_  weak, he had to actually _be_  weak as well.

Dan took a deep breath, seeing his father’s fingers clench angrily on the armrests of the chair he was sitting in. He looked about ready to stand up and shout himself hoarse, which Dan had no desire to be apart of. Instead he held his breath and squinted, something all of his teachers had reprimanded him for. He spread his fingers as wide as they would go, in hopes of avoiding the fire as much as he could, and wanting to be anywhere but there, wanting to be anyone but himself. Dan conjured fire.

“Very good,” his father practically purred, while Dan stood with his hand as far away from his body as possible. The fire in his hand was small, flickering back and forth in his palm, but it was still _too close_. Dan’s skin prickled with pain from the heat, and he knew if it got any bigger the pain would grow as well. “Now make it bigger.”

Dan sucked in a big breath, starting to get dizzy from holding it for so long, and bit his lip. Feeling terrified and incredibly uneasy, he willed for the fire to grow, millimeter by millimeter. His father grinned maniacally the bigger the flame got, and Dan’s eyes were watering from the heat, both from the hot air assaulting his face as well as the pain in his hand.

“That’ll be all Daniel,” his father spoke softly, and Dan had to bite his tongue to prevent a sob of relief from escaping his mouth. The fire was quickly extinguished, and Dan clenched his hand tightly into a fist in an attempt to ease the pain. “You may go.”

Dan scurried from the room, turning down various hallways in the manor until he arrived at his room. He shoved the heavy door open and locked it behind him, before hurrying over to his bed and burying himself in it. His hand stung, and he curled himself into an even tighter ball as he tried desperately to hold back his tears.

He hated being a Firebender. He would give anything to be able to bend any other element. In fact, Dan would probably give just about anything to get rid of his current ability all together. Sniffling quietly, Dan clutched a pillow tightly to his chest, trying to squeeze his eyes closed hard enough for his wish to come true.


	2. Chapter 2

Phil let out a long, drawn out sigh as he rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry sir," he answered mechanically, despite being so close to his breaking point that even forcing the word 'sir' out of his mouth made him clench his fists angrily. He was close to just grabbing the nearest kettle and slamming it over the idiots head, but he resisted. "We are all out of jade tea. Can I offer you jasmine?”

“I don’t _like_  jasmine,” the man grumbled, glaring at Phil as if it was _his_  fault that the shop had run out of jade tea. He just worked there, after all, it wasn’t like he owned the place.

“Well we have plenty of other teas if you’d like to try—“

“No,” the man interrupted rudely. “I’ll just find tea elsewhere!” And with that he spun around and exited the shop (good riddance!) leaving Phil alone at the counter. He sighed again, loudly, before sitting down on the little stool behind the counter. He hated his job.

As if the rude customers weren’t bad enough, it was right in the center of town, a place where Fire Nation soldiers often frequented. And even worse, the whole place was made out of metal and cement, and Phil could barely feel any of the earth around him, not that he could do anything with it anyway.

Phil thought longingly of earthbending, something he missed dearly. He hadn’t bended at all since his father was taken, not so much as a pebble. He could remember the joy of shaping the earth with his fingers, feeling it mold and change shape within his hands. But that’d been ten years ago. And now, all he could do was appreciate the feel of the earth around him. He liked walking through town, feeling the ground under his feet. It made him feel powerful and in control, and he could just sense it everywhere. If only he could bend it.

Suddenly, the tiny tea shop’s door flew open, and a Fire Nation soldier barged into the building, shutting the door hastily behind himself. He turned around, looking out through the window next to the door, and after a few seconds appeared to be satisfied with whatever he was doing, as he turned around and approached the counter. He look worried, which Phil didn’t know what to make of. He was automatically wary of every Fire Nation soldier, despite how human they looked.

“Tea, please,” the soldier said quietly, glancing over his shoulder once more and biting his lip. The other customers in the shop were all frozen, just as cautious of the soldier as Phil was.

“What kind?” Phil asked.

“Oh um— just, any kind—“

Again, the door banged open, and the soldier’s eyes widened and he whipped his head over his shoulder, taking in the new arrivals.

“Dan!” one of them said sickeningly, his voice sounding like it was dripping in acid. He was smiling evilly, and the two other soldiers with him wore identical expressions.

The first soldier, Dan, Phil took it, turned back to Phil, his expression just as wary.

“Yes, um, just a— a jade tea please,” he muttered, his demeanor obviously panicked. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides, and his body was held stiffly.

“I’m sorry, we’re out of—“

“Dan,” the other soldier said again, this time walking up towards Dan. He put his hand on Dan’s shoulder, who flinched. “We still have practice to do.”

“I finished,” Dan practically whispered.

Phil watched on with interest and a tad bit of concern, which he would admit, was the first time he’d ever felt it for a firebender.

“But _we’re_  not finished,” the other soldier said. He was much taller than Dan, who was barely higher than the counter. He was probably an entire foot shorter than Phil, and he looked terrified.

With this statement, the other soldier’s hand burst into flames (all of the shop’s patrons flinched away, looking on in terror), which he shoved right in front of Dan’s face, who tripped backwards, trying in vain to get away from the flame. There was nowhere for him to go however, and he just ended up pressing his back into the front of the other soldier.

“P-Peter,” he gasped, still leaning as far away from the fire as he could. “No bending in establishments! The general said…”

Peter laughed, but he extinguished the flame, shoving Dan forward again.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir,” Phil said bravely. He then pointed to the sign sitting on the counter. “There is no bending indoors.”

“We’ll take this outside then,” Peter said, smirking widely. And then he grabbed Dan’s bare arm, who immediately let out a howl of pain. Peter laughed and shoved him forward, revealing the bright red mark on Dan’s arm. A burn.

Dan scurried out of the shop, never having been able to purchase anything, and the other soldiers disappeared with him. Phil swallowed thickly, feeling worried for the soldier despite himself, before he shook his head. It was their fault that his father was gone. It was their fault that he hadn’t been able to bend in years. It was their fault that he’d lived with his crazy neighbor until he was twelve, when he got his first job and starting living in his own house again, memories of his father haunting him in every room. Everything was their fault, and he couldn’t afford to feel anything close to amicable to any of them.

—

Phil didn’t get off work until late that night, past ten o’clock. He left with his boss telling him to shoo, and to be back bright and early. Phil was exhausted, he always was by the end of the night, and he barely got enough sleep to actually feel rested and awake by the time he had to work the next morning. Plus, sleeping was already hard enough as it was.

He was completely alone in his little house, and it seemed even colder and creakier during the night. It was difficult for him to fall asleep, always afraid of someone breaking in, or someone realizing he was an earthbender. Most of the time he just thought of his father.

On the first days after his father was taken, Phil was interrogated many times. All the Fire Nation soldiers were convinced that he was an earthbender, since his father was such a prominent one. Thankfully, the few towns people that knew of his ability kept quiet, either out of pity for him or loyalty to his father.

Being questioned by the soldiers had been terrifying though. They’d all been so much bigger than him, all of them glaring with evil expressions. They’d barged into his home in the middle of the night, waking Phil up. He’d been sleeping in his father’s bed ever since he’d been taken, and slowly it’d been starting to smell like him rather than his father, which made Phil feel even lonelier.

The soldiers had kicked the door open, appearing in the dark doorway with flames in their hands which lit up their faces. Phil had cried out, pulling the blankets up under his chin, his fingers clenching the blankets so hard that his fingers had hurt.

They’d stormed into the room and Phil had scrambled back on the bed, crying now, terrified for his life.

“You’re Lester’s son?” one of them had barked.

“Y-yes,” Phil had whispered, his voice thick with tears.

That had been the extent of their conversation before two of the soldiers had surged forward and grabbed Phil’s arms, yanking him out of the bed and dragging him out the door, clad in only his pajama pants and shivering.

“What? Where are you taking me? What’s going on?” Phil had cried, struggling feebly against the soldiers, who hadn’t answered him. He’d been dragged out of his house entirely, taken down the street and through the town.

Roughly, he’d been yanked into an abandoned looking building, which apparently the soldiers had set up camp in. His feet had been scuffed and bleeding, thanks to being dragged over rough pavement. His face had still been wet with tears, cold in the night’s chill, and he’d felt terrified and alone, sure that he was being taken away to wherever his father was. _But how did they know he was an Earthbender?_

Then, Phil had been shoved into a metal chair, the coldness from the metal seeping right through his pajama bottoms as well as onto his bare back. There hadn’t been a single friendly face around him, each and every soldier more evil looking than the next. At the time, Phil was sure that it had been the end.

“Are you an Earthbender?” one soldier had asked suddenly, as if trying to surprise the answer out of Phil.

“N-no,” he answered immediately, trying to keep his body from shaking, not only from fear but also from the shivers wracking through his body.

But that hadn’t been the end of it. Of course, the soldiers hadn’t wanted to take no for an answer, and they’d done many tests to try and prove that Phil was an Earthbender.

First, they’d thrown rocks at him, the rocks getting bigger and bigger the longer it went on, as if they were sure that Phil wouldn’t be able to resist protecting his body from one of the rocks. He was willing to admit, anyway, that he’d been tempted to. The treatment had hurt a lot, his body bruised and bleeding, and he’d wrapped his small arms around his frail body and cried.

“I wanna go home,” he’d whispered, going completely ignored by the soldiers. They’d taken to throwing fire towards him, thinking that he’d be so scared that he’d make a protective wall. They were wrong though, after each and every test they were wrong, and Phil proved to them (falsely) that he wasn’t an Earthbender. All thanks to his father, as well. You must not use your bending again. Forget that you can control the earth.

And Phil did. To the best of his ability, anyway. He tried and tried and tried to forget.

Now though, he just walked. It was too hard to sleep, and walking was nice, the cold night air a comfort to him, the darkness like a blanket thrown across the entire sky. Except for the fact that he barely saw the sky.

Phil found his way to the nearest tunnel, one that went through one of the large mountains in his town, and began walking down it. This was the best part of Phil’s day. Or night, he supposed. Just feeling the earth all around him, above his head and under his feet. It was a comfort. It was as if he could become part of the earth if he wanted, which sometimes he longed to do, after an especially hard day at the shop, or after a skirmish with some soldiers.

He sighed, realizing how many times he’d done so in annoyance that day, and all the days before that. It didn’t matter though. Not as long as he had this, not as long as he could remember what he’d been instructed to forget. The earth, and how to bend it. Bending felt like it was always at the tip of his fingers, as if after all this time it’d only built up and up, like carbonation in a fizzy drink, until one day it’d escape out of him in an explosion, and everything would maybe be messed up for good. Or maybe he’d just be free.

Phil was broken out of his thoughts as he heard a weird scuffling noise from further down the tunnel. He slowed down to a walk, feeling cautious, before his eyes adjusted to the shape approaching him. The person was wearing a Fire Nation uniform, which only made Phil feel wary and uncomfortable. Except for the fact that the soldier was very obviously limping, dragging their foot behind them awkwardly, and releasing little gasps of pain with every step.

After another few moments of watching the soldier approach, Phil recognized who it was. The soldier from the shop today; Dan. With his next limping step, he glanced up and noticed Phil, drawing in a surprised breath as he did.

“Hello?” he said quietly, though despite this, his voice echoed harshly off the tunnel walls.

“Hi,” Phil answered, if only to assure the man that he wasn’t seeing things. Dan breathed a sigh of relief, before taking another step forward.

And then the walls erupted.

Both Dan and Phil screamed as two badger-moles bursted through the walls, one closer to Dan and one closer to Phil. The creatures were blind, though this did nothing to deter them as they were natural Earthbenders. Earth shaped at their will, and their noses were incredibly sensitive. Phil didn’t doubt that they could smell the fear on him right this second. They were giant as well, taller than Dan and Phil stacked on top of each other, and maybe even a second Dan, seeing as he was so short.

Phil was sure that he would’ve noticed them approaching, would’ve felt the vibrations and shifting in the earth if he hadn’t been so distracted by Dan.

“Oh fuck!” Dan cried, limping hurriedly away from the creature closest to him. It let out a snuffling sort of screech and advanced towards Dan, who continued to try to run away on his clearly injured leg.

 _Why doesn’t he just firebend at it?_  Phil wondered in a panic, before the badger-mole behind him charged, and Phil just managed to jump out of the way.

It made to charge at Phil again, and panicking, he did the only thing he could think to do, more out of instinct than anything else.

He earthbended. And it was the best he’d felt in ten years.

The earth was just as responsive as it had been before, and it listened to Phil like a perfectly trained polar bear dog, rising as he whipped his hands upward, and crushing the creatures into the walls as he slammed them outward. The badger-moles retreated, burrowing through the walls in defeat, and Phil stood panting, watching the unsettled dust floating through the air. The tunnel was in ruins, the rock clearly shifted severely.

Suddenly, Phil remembered his company, and he gasped as he whipped around to stare at the soldier, who was busy staring at him in shock. And then he turned tail and ran (or tried to, anyway). Dan hobbled away as quickly as his injured leg would allow, and Phil couldn’t be having that. He couldn’t be taken away like his father, not when the only thing his dad had wanted was for him to live a long and happy life!

He couldn’t let this soldier turn him in, couldn’t let him get away. Phil was overwhelmed, hectic half-formed ideas and plans flying through his brain at top speed, and at random he grabbed at one and enacted it.

Phil earthbended once more, giddy with the power of it, and the earth rose up and encased Dan’s legs, trapping him where he was.

“No!” Dan gasped, pitching forward, which Phil didn’t allow. He pulled the earth towards him, and then, with barely a twitch of his fingers, was sending rock handcuffs onto Dan’s hands and securing them behind his back.

“No! No please!” Dan begged. “Let me go!”

But Phil couldn’t. He _couldn’t_! There was no possible way, no other option at all from what Phil could see. This was the only way.

And with another flick of his hand, a slab of smoothened rock was securing itself over Dan’s mouth and wrapping around the back of his head, keeping him entirely silent. He looked like a half-finished rock mummy, and Phil felt guilty for what he’d done, but it was either him or this soldier, and Phil was going to have to choose himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, to which he received a harsh glare, barely concealing the fear behind it.

And what was Phil to do? He couldn’t go back to his house, couldn’t drag Dan through town and expect nobody to notice. And he couldn’t let him go free either, Phil would be just as easily found out. No, the only option was to leave the city, to go elsewhere and bring Dan with him.

He’d let him go eventually, when he was far away enough. He just needed to get out, needed to not be discovered.

And so, with that, Phil sprinted off in one direction, forcing the rock binding Dan’s legs to move with him as well. Dan made a disgruntled noise in his throat as he was suddenly jerked forward, his eyes wide with fear, but Phil ignored it. There was nothing he could do for him now, all there was left was himself and the memory of his father. He couldn’t afford to let himself get caught.

 _I’m sorry_ , Phil thought desperately in Dan’s direction. Despite his intentions, he couldn’t help but feel like this was similar to the night when he was eight years old, the night soldiers had broken into his home and taken him to their base. Phil shivered at the thought of being like them, and shoved the thought out of his mind.

That wasn’t what he needed to think about right now. He could only afford to have one thought on his mind currently, and it was to escape.


	3. Chapter 3

Dan was terrified. For one thing, he was being kidnapped, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. And for another: Dan could barely breathe.

He was trying desperately to do so, but the earthbender (Phil was it? He was still wearing his tea shop uniform from earlier, and that’s what the name tag had read, at least) had secured a large slab of rock tightly over Dan’s mouth. He couldn’t make a noise, and he couldn’t breathe through his mouth at all, and his nose was barely accessible, as the slab also pressed up into his nose. To make matters worse, the rocks around Dan’s legs (at first it had been one large rock, securing him into the ground, but as soon as Phil had started running they’d broken into two, one encasing each of Dan’s legs) were forcing him to run, much faster than he was used to. He was huffing and puffing through his nose but it simply wasn’t enough. Dan felt sure he was going to suffocate.

And to think, just that morning Dan had thought that Phil looked like a nice guy. He’d tried to escape into that tea shop, had tried to get away from Peter and his annoying sidekicks, Jaxon and Elijah, but it was practically impossible to escape from those guys. He’d thought that maybe they wouldn’t follow him into the shop, but he was wrong, of course.

Peter had hated him ever since Dan was sent to the city when he was thirteen. His father had sent him away to join the Fire Nation soldiers stationed in Omashu, thinking that the training and experience would toughen Dan up. In reality, the other firebenders had spotted a weakness in him immediately.

They practiced formations a lot, and they practiced their firebending. Well, most of them did. Dan always did his best to get away with not doing it. He’d skip practice, or stand in the back and do the motions without actually summoning fire. At first, a few people had thought that maybe Dan was joking around, trying to be funny or something. They’d figured out that he was just scared of fire soon enough.

It was torture, living with all those other firebenders. There’d been about six of them assigned to live in different cabins, and going to sleep in them was a nightmare. People were always tripping Dan up, or throwing fire his way just to scare him. On more than one occasion Dan had woken up with a fistful of fire being held directly in front of his face. He’d scrambled off the bed, gasping and panting, his heart thundering painfully while everyone else laughed.

No respectable firebender was _scared_  of fire. Dan was a wimp. He was pathetic. He’d heard it enough times to know it was true. But still, he couldn’t help it. Fire was terrifying! He could easily set something on fire, but once it was lit, there was no way to put it out again. Not unless you were lucky enough to be a waterbender, and even then, lucky enough to have water somewhere nearby.

Still, walking into the tea shop that morning, Dan had taken one look at Phil’s face and thought, _he looks like a nice guy_. Dan’s palms had been sweating, and he’d felt like he was fighting a battle just to speak, just to order a cup of tea. He’d barely even noticed as everyone in the shop grew wary at his presence, though he’d noticed their reactions when Peter and his cronies bursted in.

And then, of course, Dan had been dragged out of the shop moments later, with no one doing anything to stop Peter. And why would they? Why would anybody get in a firebender’s way in this city? They were all blatantly terrified of firebenders, it was obvious, and yet no one tried to do anything to gain their respect instead of their fear.

That’s where the Fire Lord was going wrong, Dan thought. He wanted to rule everyone with fear, to keep them in his submission simply by making them scared enough. But no one can rule a nation that way; even Dan knew that, and he was no leader. You needed to earn their respect, needed to have them trust you and put actual faith in your decisions. That’s why Dan was nice to all the citizens he had to interact with, even though they were all obviously terrified to even be in his presence.

Dan still ached from what Peter had done to him, could feel it even while he was being forced to run. He’d been pinned to the wall by Jaxon and Elijah, and Peter had taken to punching and kicking him, and lighting fire so close to Dan’s skin that he could feel himself burning despite the flames not even touching him. Sometimes Dan wished that everyone didn’t hate him so much. Other times he just wished that they were all dead. Or that he was dead. Or that he wasn’t a firebender. Any of them would do, really.

Right now, however, he wished that he could breathe. That he could stop running and take a few gasping breaths of air, and then turn tail and run as best as he could in the opposite direction, even with his sprained ankle (another present directly from Peter himself. A charming man). He could still remember seeing the badger-moles burst through the sides of the tunnel, and for a few seconds he’d thought he was going to die, seeing as his leg wouldn’t work properly and his fire probably wouldn’t have come even if he’d wanted it to.

But instead, the ground had fissured and shot into the air, and from there it had slammed the badger-moles into the wall, crushing them dead for all Dan knew. It was the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen. Dan had just started running, not even sure what was going through his mind.

Sure, there was ‘ _earthbender?'_  because how could someone not think about that after seeing another person bend the earth? But more prominently, there was ‘ _he could kill me!'_  and also ‘ _should I tell anyone?'_. In those brief seconds Dan had thought, _why should I?_  It wasn’t as if he felt like he owed anything to anyone in the Fire Nation camp. They were all cruel to him, and to the citizens that they were constantly terrorizing. The least Dan could do was let this earthbender remain free. Besides, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t already being punished enough, living in a city where earthbending was illegal, probably worried for his life every minute of every day.

Dan hadn’t gotten very far though, before rock was encasing his legs, and then his hands, and then his mouth.

And Dan still couldn’t breathe.

He was wheezing now, trying desperately to get oxygen into his body, but mostly he was just breathing in dust, thanks to his rock feet skidding across the ground with seemingly no effort from Phil. Phil was running too, more than running, even, seeing as the ground was coming up to support his feet, and then propelling him even further. He must be a strong earthbender, to be able to control the earth so easily, with so little thought. Dan wondered when the last time he must’ve earthbended was. And then he wondered if he was going to die.

Of course, he had to wonder if he might die because of the fact that he was being kidnapped (how often do people live through kidnappings anyway?) but now Dan feared that he would die before they’d even gotten to their destination, wherever it was that Phil was taking them. Phil didn’t seem to be thinking about Dan much at all, and Dan was feeling light-headed now, and there were black spots in his vision, drifting across the walls of the tunnel and growing bigger and combining, until Dan blinked and they started all over again.

Dan tried to make a noise, tried to get Phil’s attention, but it wasn’t working. All he could do was make some low sort of sound deep in his throat, and he could barely even hear that over all the ruckus the sound of them running was making. He wasn’t even sure that he _could_  hear it, he probably only knew because he could feel himself trying to make the sound.

That’s about when Dan gave up. There was obviously no hope for him, and what was it worth it, anyway? He was already a failed firebender, and his father despised him because of that. Dan didn’t even know what he would do if he knew Dan was _gay_  too. He’d probably set himself on fire. Or he’d set _Dan_  on fire.

Dan’s head lolled as they ran, which didn’t really help with the breathing part, but he was giving up on that anyway. He could feel his legs moving, could feel his body being propelled forward and forward, unendingly. Distantly, he thought he noticed the light change, thought he could feel the wind on his cheeks— _were they out of the tunnel?_ — but Dan was already blacking out by then. Everything went dim, and everything sounded muffled. Dan was sure that he was about to die then, but—

“Oh, shit!”

Suddenly, they stopped. Everything stopped. The rocks around Dan’s body disappeared, turning into dust and flying away in the wind.

Dan fell to the ground immediately, gasping and heaving, choking on sweet, sweet air that had been denied from him. He was making these disgusting, rasping heaving sounds, and he could feel his body contracting and lifting as he breathed. Tears had risen to his eyes, and he stayed there, panting, for a few long minutes.

Finally, Dan managed to stop breathing like he was on the brink of death, and he stood back up slowly, looking up at the earthbender (God, he was _tall!_ Of course, most people just said Dan was short, but that was a matter of perspective). Phil looked apologetic, he looked scared. Dan hated him.

“You bastard!” Dan rasped. His voice sounded like it was his first time speaking in days, and Dan tried to clear his throat, but it hurt more than anything else.

“I’m sorry,” Phil said immediately, just as he had when he was actually in the process of kidnapping Dan. Of course, sorry people didn’t _kidnap_  other people, so Dan didn’t believe him for one second. He wasn’t a fool.

“Let me go,” Dan said stubbornly, despite the fact that he wasn’t actually restrained at the moment. Besides, Dan knew it would be impossible for him to get away. He could still feel his ankle throbbing, now that he had to actually stand on it, and after two steps he’d probably be gasping for air again. Plus, Phil controlled the _earth_. Dan could start running, and Phil could just pluck the ground out from under Dan and carry him back. Dan’s only chance would be to escape while Phil was sleeping, possibly.

“I can’t do that,” Phil answered, having the balls to actually sound apologetic about it. Dan glared at him.

 _Then kill me,_  Dan wanted to say, because it would sound badass. But he didn’t, because he’d actually rather take his chances with escaping during the night, and he would rather not die, after all.

Instead, Dan answered, “What do you want with me?”

“None of your business,” Phil snarled, and his apologetic facade was gone (Dan knew it was a lie). And then he summoned earth into his hand again, and it was shaped like it was supposed to go around Dan’s mouth, and he panicked.

“No!” Dan gasped, backing away rapidly. “Don’t! I can’t breathe with that!”

Phil paused, but Dan kept backing away. “I made it smaller this time,” he answered, as if that’s enough. As if anyone could comfortably breathe through their nose the entire time that they’re running.

“Don’t!” Dan choked out again, and his voice was  _still_  raspy, and all he could think about was suffocating slowly, and he was started to sweat because of that.

  
Dan tripped, which was probably what he deserved for backing away like a fucking wuss, but he couldn’t help it. And then he went sprawling towards the ground, his hands flying out to catch him, except for the fact that the ground came up to meet him instead. And it was soft somehow. Dan was pushed back onto his feet while Phil acted as if he hadn’t just done that, hadn’t just caught Dan when he was falling. So Dan pretended it hadn’t happened too.

“You have to promise you’ll keep quiet,” Phil threatened instead, his eyes narrowing as he studied Dan’s face.

“I will,” Dan answered immediately, without even thinking about it. He’d do anything to avoid having that death trap stuck on his face again. Plus, he didn’t doubt that Phil could stop him from shouting for help before Dan could even get the first syllable out. He could probably just create a hole directly under Dan, and there would be nothing else Dan could do about it.

“And if we come across any people, I’ll put it back on you,” Phil added. Dan could feel his body freezing up at the thought, but he nodded slowly anyway. Anything would be better than having to wear it all the time.

After that, Phil apparently trusted Dan enough to let him walk freely. He didn’t even handcuff him or anything, just started walking again and made sure Dan was following. After almost half a mile of walking Dan had started limping more noticeably, and Phil had pulled him over to the side of the road, using a rock to make a sort of cast like thing. Somehow it worked and Dan found that he could walk without pain twinging up his leg with every step, even if his leg did feel heavier in the long run. It kept coming down too fast, and Dan kept tripping and stumbling as he tried to acclimate to it.

“The other soldiers’ll notice I’m missing,” Dan said sometime later, half because he was bored of the quiet, and half because he’d only just thought of it himself. How could they miss the fact that he was gone, anyway? The person they all loved to torment? They would notice he was gone faster than a cheetah-bear could run, and then it’d only be a matter of time before they came looking for Dan. Or at least, Dan hoped someone would come looking.

“My boss’ll notice I’m gone too,” Phil replied. He stayed quiet after that, neglecting to mention how he planned for them to hide or avoid anyone coming after them, but he seemed pretty confident that they wouldn’t be found. At one point, Dan turned his head to look at the road behind them, and as he watched, the footsteps they left behind smoothed out to look undisturbed. Dan knew it was thanks to Phil and he couldn’t help wishing that he was less smart. Of course, Dan doubted that a dumb earthbender could’ve avoided being caught for so long.

Dan had heard all about the raids that had gone on in Omashu when he was just a kid, how plenty of people were tested to see if they were earthbenders. Dan couldn’t imagine being tested like that. He’d heard that the soldiers had hurt people, children and women and everyone, which freaked Dan out more than anything else. _What was so bad about earthbenders?_  he had thought. Although the answer was obvious to him later. _Because they can fight back._

But then, anyone could fight back, really. There are swords and spears and all kinds of weapons. Sure, it wouldn’t be as efficient as someone who could bend, but they could still fight back. Did it make Dan a traitor, to think like that? To want the firebenders to lose, and Omashu to win? To want the _Fire Lord_  to lose? He could never say these thoughts out loud, Dan knew. He couldn’t even imagine what the punishment would be.

They travelled all day. It had been sometime in the middle of the night when Dan was kidnapped, and the sun was setting by the time they finally decided to rest. They’d made it to a large forest some time ago, which seemed to spur Phil on. It only made Dan more hopeless, as he wasn’t so sure that they’d be able to be tracked in here, and was even less sure that anyone would try to find him anyway.

Phil created a little clearing for them in the trees, raising a section of the ground slightly higher than the rest for them to camp out on. Phil foraged for food around this area, and Dan sat and watched, trying to ignore the pain in his leg and the panic is his stomach.

“If I catch something for us to eat, would you cook it?” Phil asked absently, as he digs around in a bush for some berries.

“No,” Dan answered stubbornly. He’d tried to sound stubborn, anyway. Phil probably thought that he refused to create a fire simply because he’d been kidnapped, simply because he wanted to spite Phil.

In reality, Dan wasn’t sure when he would ever use firebending. He couldn’t even properly remember the last time he’d used it, though it was most certainly during practice of some sort, when Dan had gotten caught not actually firebending.

Phil huffed angrily, but he came back with a few handfuls of berries and a couple of roots for them to munch on. It didn’t taste good, and Dan wouldn’t be eating this crap if he’d just not gotten kidnapped in the first place, but Dan supposed that there wasn’t really anything more to it. Beggars can’t be choosers, and all.

That night, Phil created a cage out of the earth and shoved Dan in it. Dan knew that if he really, _really_  wanted, he could probably melt the rock. If he concentrated hard enough, if he did it for long enough, he might be able to escape.

But there was still the fact that Phil would most likely see him even if he did try.

And, even more importantly: Dan never wanted to firebend. It was like he’d stuffed it so deep inside of him that now it was even harder to use than it was supposed to be, which was a good thing, of course. Dan didn’t care as long as he didn’t have to use it.

This created a problem with escaping, however. But Dan supposed that there was still time to come up with another escape plan. He just had to think.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost pitch black beneath the thick layer of trees, and yet with the small amount of moonlight filtering through, Phil could see Dan. He was curled up against the side of the cage Phil had made, and it seemed like he was shivering slightly. Phil could understand, his own clothes doing little to block out the chill of the night. He couldn’t help but wonder what he would do when the nights started getting even colder.

Phil couldn’t sleep. In the matter of one night, his life had been completely flipped upside down. Just like when his father was taken away. His thoughts whirred constantly without his consent, and his mind refused to settle down and fall asleep.

He ended up continuing to watch Dan, figuring it was better to keep an eye on him anyway. He wasn’t sure how powerful a firebender would need to be in order to melt rock, but he wasn’t really willing to chance it. Dan flinched in his sleep, and then he curled into an even tighter ball.

Phil sighed. He didn’t know what to do. Without Dan he could probably sneak into another city, lie low and blend in there. With Dan, however, he didn’t have that option. Dan would just blab the moment they were around other people. Phil couldn’t simply release him either for the same reason.

Phil wished that none of this had happened. Or that it had, and Dan just wasn’t with him. It felt so good to freely use his ability again, and he never wanted it to be restricted again. He felt happier than he had in a long while, and that’s with the added stress of the fact that he was now a kidnapper.

Dan gasped, and he jolted upward, his eyes darting back and forth. His forehead was covered with a sheen of sweat, and he was panting. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal, and he let himself sit back against the wall of the cage again. He was shaking fiercely as he hugged his knees to his chest in an attempt to retain warmth.

“Why don’t you start a fire?” Phil suggested, and Dan jerked in surprise. He squinted in Phil’s direction, unable to actually see him.

“I’m not gonna do anything that would benefit you,” he responded harshly, before tucking his head back into his knees and trembling silently.

Phil glowered at him. He would have to intimidate Dan more. He’d have to make himself scarier and harsher, so that Dan wouldn’t think that there was a possibility of opposing him. Phil felt sick even thinking about purposefully being scary and mean, but it didn’t seem like there was any other option.

Or maybe he could just try to be nice, try to be as kind to Dan as he could be, considering the circumstances.

Stifling a groan, Phil let his thoughts lull him to sleep as he tried to figure out how he should act around Dan.

—

Dan and Phil were walking in silence, a nice reprieve from all the arguing they’d been doing. It seemed that every other minute, Dan had something scathing to say to Phil. He’d called him all sorts of names and taunted him on just about anything, and Phil had returned as well as he got.

In all honesty, though, Phil was tired of being mean. He longed to just leave Dan behind and let him fend for himself. Then, at least, he’d be able to move faster and have peace of mind. Instead he was forced to listen to Dan’s constant whining as well as his own conscious telling him what an asshole he was.

There was a loud rumble of thunder in the distance, which made Phil annoyed more than anything else. He did _not_ want to put up with a storm along with everything else that’d been going on. He despised the thought of being wet and cold and uncomfortable. And who knew how long it would take for their clothes to actually dry? He didn’t know what they’d do if they were wet when the sun went down, plus he was afraid one of them might get sick. If Dan was sick, morally he’d have to do something to help. But if he got sick himself, Dan would have an advantage and a much easier time getting away.

“What are you doing?” Phil snapped, realizing that Dan was no longer next to him. He glared, the comments Dan had said earlier still burning in his mind, and he concentrated on the cast he’d made, which was still on Dan’s leg. He pulled it closer to him, and Dan stumbled along with it as it moved. He looked nervous and angry at the same time, and Phil just didn’t feel up to dealing with his shit. “Come on,” he commanded, and starting walking again.

Dan walked beside him again. He seemed angry, and he apparently had trouble walking with the added weight of the rock on his leg, which made him stumble every once in a while. Sadistically, Phil thought of purposefully making him trip, of using the rock and pulling it just a little bit more forward, but he resisted.

Thunder crashed again, louder and closer this time. Dan froze, and Phil turned to yell at him again, before he saw Dan’s face. He looked scared and uneasy, though he quickly wiped his face into a blank mask. He began walking again before Phil could tell him to, and Phil watched as he shakily wiped his palms on his trousers, supposedly because they were sweaty with nervousness.

As Phil looked at Dan, he realized that he was still wearing his Fire Nation clothes. They would have to do something to change that, as his clothes would be a massive give away. Anyone would question what Phil was doing with him, and they’d immediately raise alarms if they saw him bound at anytime, which Phil might have reason to do again in the future.

The next time thunder rattled the sky, Dan visibly flinched. Phil didn’t know what to do. Tell him it would be alright? Tell him to stop being a pussy? Phil didn’t exactly feel like himself anymore, he felt sick to his stomach. He’d _kidnapped_ a person. Who _did_ that?

“Do you need to stop?” Phil finally ended up asking, turning to look at Dan as they walked.

“No,” Dan muttered. It was then that the sky opened up, rain pouring forth and quickly soaking them. Stubbornly, Phil continued on, Dan stumbling behind him.

It was cold, that was undeniable. Phil felt frozen, and his toes hurt from how cold they were. His feet sunk into the earth and squelched with each step, until Phil got annoyed and began hardening the earth beneath his feet. Dan continued to struggle behind him, his feet sinking uncomfortably.

Lightning lit the sky, making Dan gasp, and Phil huffed angrily.

“We’re taking a break,” he informed Dan, crossing his arms and glaring at the shorter boy.

“No,” Dan said again, clearly just for the sake of arguing.

Phil rolled his eyes. With a twitch of his finger, the earth underneath Dan softened even more, until he sank up to his knees. He was already so short, but now he reached just about the middle of Phil’s stomach.

“Let me out!” Dan cried desperately, struggling to climb out of the muddy hole.

“Hmm,” Phil pondered. “I don’t think I will.”

The sky boomed, and Dan froze for a second, his hands clenching into fists in the mud around him. He started struggling to get out of the mud even harder.

“Let me out!” he yelled again, panting now. “They say that spirits are more likely to come out during storms!” Dan then looked around anxiously, as if expecting a spirit to jump out just because he’d mentioned them.

Phil had never seen a spirit before, but he knew his father had. Spirits were finicky creatures, sometimes they were good and benevolent, but other times they were downright evil. They usually had some sort of justified reason for being evil, but that didn’t help when you were being attacked by one.

An owl hooted somewhere off in the distance, and Dan made a distressed sound. ” _Get me out!_ “ he screamed. Phil was concerned by Dan’s display of fear, as well as worried that someone might hear him. Without another thought, Phil reached down for his hand, and he pulled him up while making the earth push him as well. Dan scrambled out of the hole, and for a second, stood holding Phil’s hands and panting. And then he shoved Phil.

Phil stumbled backwards, his feet sliding out from underneath him before he crashed to the ground. Dan looked smug for a few seconds, even placing his hands on his hips and smirking down at Phil gloatingly, but then Phil yanked the earth out from under Dan’s feet.

Dan flew forward, his body sliding in the mud and quickly becoming coated all over. He was making these spluttering sounds, but he rose back to his feet despite this and sprinted towards Phil.

Alarmed, Phil tried to trap Dan using the ground again, but he leaped at the last second and came flying towards Phil, who was still sitting on the ground. Dan crashed into Phil and immediately began punching him, his fist connecting with Phil’s cheek and chest and chin.

Phil shoved Dan backwards, and Dan thudded into the ground harshly. Phil wasted no time and scrambled on top of Dan, pinning his wrists above his head. Dan continued to struggle beneath him, but he wasn’t getting anywhere. He didn’t really have any advantages over Phil, and his small stature made him especially easy to fight.

“Are you done?” Phil snapped, glaring into Dan’s face. Dan didn’t answer, just shifted his eyes to the side and looked stoically away from Phil.

“Do you _want_ to be handcuffed again?” Phil threatened. This got a reaction out of Dan, and he whipped back to face Phil (his hair was already thoroughly caked in mud) his mouth agape, when the sky lit up with lighting, followed immediately by thunder.

Dan stiffened underneath Phil, and Phil could’ve sworn he’d heard the tiniest of whimpers.

“I just want to go home,” Dan said in the quietest of voices. The fight went out of Phil then, and he let go of Dan’s wrists, sliding off of him.

“I can’t let you go,” Phil answered softly. Dan huffed angrily, and he sat up and wrapped his arms around his legs. “But I can let us sit down when it’s storming. And I can make us shelter. And I can get us food,” he said, looking at Dan desperately.

Dan didn’t reply, but Phil continued. “I wish you hadn’t been there, so I wouldn’t have had to take you. But can’t you see it from my point of view? Earthbenders are prosecuted because of your Fire Lord, and a firebender sees me earthbending? My life could be over because of that.”

Dan scoffed loudly. “Can’t you see it from _my_ point of view?” he demanded. “Some crazy, terrifying earth bender _takes_ you and you don’t know if you’re ever going to be able to go back or if you should even expect to live through this. And you want me to have _compassion_ for you?”

Phil was silent. Dan was right, of course. Phil had _kidnapped_ him. It was horrible, and he shouldn’t have done it, but it was too late now. “You’ll live through this,” Phil said quietly. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he added.

“But you will if you have to,” Dan guessed solemnly.

“Yes,” Phil answered.

Silence. And then, “Can you at least bend all this mud off my body?”

Phil laughed, and a few minutes later they were both mud free. Or, mostly, anyway. It was impossible to get it all, and they would both still be feeling dirty and gritty until they got a proper wash.

—

Eventually, they made it to the edge of the woods, from which they could see a small town.

“We could get you new clothes from there,” Phil thought aloud, looking around cautiously. The area seemed pretty deserted, the only activity happening in the town itself.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Dan asked indignantly.

“They’re Fire Nation,” Phil answered simply. Dan grumbled then, something about them being comfy or other, but Phil ignored them.

“I’ll go into town,” Phil said, after thinking for a moment. “And you’ll stay here. In a cage.”

“No,” Dan replied.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“What if someone came by? And I was stuck vulnerable and in a _cage_?” Dan demanded.

“Then you’d firebend at them.”

“Just take me with you,” Dan begged. “You don’t know my size clothing anyway, you’ll buy the wrong ones.”

“I don’t have any money to _buy_ things,” Phil answered. “I’m already gonna have to steal clothes, it’d be easier if there were only one of us in there.”

“And if you get caught? Or killed? And I’m _stuck in a cage_?” Dan said seriously. That _was_ a good point, Phil had to give it to him. That was a serious risk, and if Phil ended up dying, then Dan very well deserved to be free. He bit his lip as he thought.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” Phil began. In the next matter of minutes, he’d created a necklace with a small pendant on it, the pendant shaped from rock. This he tied around Dan’s neck, loose enough to not choke him but tight enough that it couldn’t slip over his head.

“I’ll take you into town with me, but should you think to try anything, I could kill you with this rock in a matter of seconds,” Phil threatened, fingering the rock on Dan’s necklace as he said so. Dan slapped his hand away.

“Fine. Just keep your hands away from me,” he snarled, and with that they turned to walk into town. Dan was still wearing his Fire Nation clothes, which was horribly conspicuous, but Phil figured they could work with it. Maybe they were just childhood friends, and Dan was visiting Phil or something. He supposed that _someone_ out there must be friends with a firebender, even if Phil was pretty convinced that they were all evil. Although, as far as firebenders went, Dan had to be the nicest one Phil had ever met. It truly was a shame that Dan was the one he’d had to kidnap.

They walked into town from the side, where there were less people and the streets weren’t so busy. Phil could smell food coming from multiple stands, fresh bread and fruit and pastries. He knew that he would have to steal some of that as well.

He and Dan ended up finding a rather small and unobtrusive clothing shop. The old woman behind the counter didn’t even look up from her magazine when the door opened and the bell chimed. Phil snatched a few earthbender looking clothes from the racks and tugged Dan into the back, pulling him into a changing room. He then shoved the clothes into Dan’s arms.

“Hurry,” Phil whispered, jiggling his knee anxiously.

“Get out,” Dan rebutted.

“What?”

“I’m not changing in front of you,” Dan said stubbornly.

“Why not? We’re both boys,” Phil answered.

Dan simply crossed his arms and raised his chin imperiously, which didn’t have much effect, as he was still much shorter than Phil.

Phil scoffed and stepped outside the changing room, leaning against the door from the outside. “You have two minutes.”

Two minutes later, Dan came out of the changing room looking distinctly uncomfortable. “These clothes are so heavy,” he complained.

“Earthbenders don’t have fire to just keep us warm all the time,” Phil answered with a shrug.

Dan looked longingly at his abandoned firebender clothes, sitting on the bench in the changing room. Phil tugged him away.

“Find everything you need?” the old lady croaked, while flipping a page in the magazine.

Dan looked at Phil in alarm.

“We were just browsing, thanks,” Phil answered, and with that he grabbed Dan’s hand and led him out the door. Behind them, he thought he heard the woman mutter, “queers.” Phil dropped Dan’s hand.

Back on the street, (with Dan finally looking like he wouldn’t blow their cover with a single glance) they walked cautiously towards the center of town.

“Aren’t we leaving?” Dan asked nervously, glancing around.

“We need food,” Phil responded.

“How are we supposed to steal any of that?” Dan asked incredulously. Honestly, Phil didn’t know. Every street vender was likely to be watching their wares like a hawk, nobody wanted to get stolen from.

“Leave it to me,” Phil said, hoping that he would come up with a plan sometime in the next few minutes.

Soon they were standing amongst all the venders on the street, selling all sorts of delicious smelling foods.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Phil said. “You’ll talk to a vendor, and while they’re paying attention to you, I’ll steal some of the food from behind them.”

Dan looked at Phil anxiously. “I can’t do that!” he whispered.

“Yours is the easy part!” Phil said in exasperation, and Dan gnawed on his lip, before finally muttering, “fine.”

Together they walked towards a promising looking stand, and Phil turned to face Dan. “Wait until I give you a thumbs up, then keep him distracted.” Dan nodded slowly, and his eyes darted towards the vender.

“And don’t think about telling him anything,” Phil threatened. He concentrated on the rock around Dan’s throat, and he made it press slightly into Dan’s skin, just enough for him to notice. Dan’s eyes widened, and his hand flew up to the rock (ironically, Phil had made the shape a heart). He looked scared, and Phil tamped down his feelings. He couldn’t afford to feel regret right now. He just needed to get them some food so he could keep the both of them alive.

Dan stumbled towards the food stand, and Phil casually made his way behind it, squeezing between stands and backtracking until he could see Dan. He gave him a thumbs up.

“Hi,” he heard Dan say, “I was wondering if you had…”

Phil set to work, hiding behind the edge of a stack of barrels, and tried to manipulate some of the boxes with the earth. He couldn’t manage to make the earth move from so far away though, plus he was afraid that someone would see if he took an entire box of food.

Heart racing, Phil edged out from behind the barrel and crept, low to the ground, behind the vendor. He made eye contact with Dan, who’s eyes were wide and anxious looking.

“Well I might have some in one of these boxes back here…” the vendor was saying, gesturing over his shoulder, and Phil froze.

“Actually no!” Dan said, and the vendor stopped, looking at Dan suspiciously. “I just remembered, my mom said… she said, that um, not to get a whole loaf. Because last time it molded before we finished it.”

“You let my bread mold?” the vendor scoffed.

“Sorry,” Dan muttered. He made eye contact with Phil again, and Phil rushed forward as quietly as he could. He glanced around frantically. There was a small bag propped next to some of the food, filled with a couple pieces of fruit. Phil kept the fruit, and he started piling food in the bag from the bins behind the vendor. He grabbed a few different kinds of loaves of bread, and then he backtracked hiding behind the barrels again.

“…Maybe I should go home and ask my mom actually. I’ll write a list next time,” Dan said, and the vendor grumbled something under his breath in annoyance.

Dan and Phil repeated this act at a few different stands, Phil getting a few different kinds of meats and nuts and even, because the chance arose, a block of cheese. By the time they were walking out of the main street, Phil’s bag was full. Both his and Dan’s faces were red, and they kept exchanging nervous glances as they walked away from the main street.

Once they were out of the town, they continued to travel down the road, even further away from Omashu. Phil longed to get to another forest to sleep, or at least further away from the town. He was afraid they’d get caught, that people would come charging out of the town for the thieves who’d stolen their stuff.

“You were good,” Phil said, once the town was much further behind them.

“Are you kidding?” Dan scoffed. “I never wanna do that again.”

“Well we’ll have to if we want to eat,” Phil said. Dan huffed.

“Hand me an apple,” he demanded, and Phil rolled his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm cold," Phil complained, looking sullenly at Dan.

Dan ignored him, shifting to the side and glaring out the other side of the bars. Phil had made the cage too small and Dan couldn't stretch out all the way when he laid down, though he refused to succumb and ask Phil to fix it. He'd probably made it too small on purpose.

It’d been a few days since they’d left that little town, and by now they were getting low on certain supplies, mostly water. Their journey had been filled mostly with annoyed bickering and surly silences.

Unfortunately, Dan was cold too. He couldn't feel his fingers or his toes, and while he had been shaking earlier, he was now so cold that the tremors had stopped, and he felt unnaturally still. It probably hadn't been a smart idea for Phil to kidnap him as winter was approaching, which Dan would be sure to berate him about later. He couldn't help wishing they'd stolen some jackets and things from the town as well, though he couldn't deny that that would've been harder to miss.

"I know you're cold too," Phil said, his breath materializing as a white puff in front of him. "You could make us a fire, you know."

"What if I'm not even a fire bender? What if I just happen to be in the Fire Nation army? Ever think of that?" Dan retorted.

Which, sure, it wasn't unheard of. Those soldiers normally got picked on by the other soldiers, ones who could actually firebend. They got bullied almost as much as Dan, actually.

Really, Dan was just lucky that Phil somehow didn't recognize him. If he'd known that he'd kidnapped _General Howell's_ son? Dan could just imagine what extreme measures would then be taken. Phil would probably ask for ransom, maybe even send Dan's fingers as proof. Of course, Dan doubted his father would pay the ransom. He didn't much care for Dan, and it'd probably just be easier for him to let someone else get rid of Dan.

It'd been terrifying, actually entering another city. Anyone could've recognized Dan, and while he was eager to get out of Phil's hold, he wasn't so sure that he wanted that to happen while he had a piece of rock secured around his neck. Plus, what if someone saw him with Phil and just kidnapped him _from_  Phil? And _then_  used him for a ransom? It's not as if Dan's father was generally well-liked, seeing as he was leading many of the raids on Earthbending towns and cities. Phil was probably the nicest person to be kidnapped by, Dan didn't want to take his chances with anyone else.

"Is that true?" Phil asked, sounding a bit appalled.

Dan didn't plan on firebending any time soon, so he lied. "Yes. Why else do you think all those soldiers were after me?"

Phil sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well then how are we supposed to stay warm?" he demanded.

Dan scoffed. "You got us into this mess, you're on your own. Why don't you try to make a fire or something?"

"We should just share body heat," Phil said.

"Over my dead body," Dan snarled in response, before crossing his arms over his chest. Phil stood up, and the bars around Dan fell down.

“Fine, but you're coming with me to find firewood," he commanded, and Dan felt the little stone around his neck tug in Phil's direction as incentive.

"If you're expecting me to carry anything," Dan called, "then you're sorely mistaken."

Phil led the way deeper into the woods, where he meticulously picked up and examined every twig they passed. “Don’t bother picking up the little ones,” Dan advised. They would burn all the way through in less than a minute, and it wasn’t worth the added labor for such a small amount of warmth.

“Why not? Every twig counts,” Phil responded, before leaning down and picking up a large branch.

“Don’t get _that_  branch,” Dan reprimanded, rolling his eyes.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s wet,” Dan said. “It won’t light.”

“Well if you’re so good at knowing how to make fires, why don’t you _help_ ,” Phil scoffed, throwing the branch back down angrily. Dan stepped delicately around him and retrieved a relatively dry branch from under a large shrub, which had apparently kept it dry during any rain that had happened. He then handed it to Phil.

“This’ll work,” Dan said, and Phil snatched it out of his hand with a huff.

They continued like this, Dan imperiously picking out branches and making Phil carry them. It was incredibly dark, which was unsettling for Dan. He kept thinking he was hearing things, branches snapping and trees creaking. He was scared of the dark already, just the thought of something being out there, Dan unable to see it.

And then, as if Dan’s own thoughts had summoned it, a low, growling sort of noise sounded from somewhere off to Dan’s left, and he froze.

“What are you doing?” Phil asked loudly, while Dan stood stock still.

“Be quiet,” he snapped in a whisper.

“What? Why?” Phil asked, no quieter than before.

Then, again, a growl echoed in the clearing, louder this time. Phil froze as well, shifting slightly closer to Dan. “What was that?” he asked idiotically.

“I don’t know!” Dan whispered furiously. It was then that the animal bursted into the clearing, its hackles raised and it’s teeth bared. It was a lion-bear.

“Run!” Phil shouted, before he turned and raced out of the clearing. Dan let out a panicked squeak and stumbled after him, jumping over roots and loose rocks. Phil had an easier time running, seeing as he was much taller than Dan. He covered ground a lot faster, and he jumped over bushes and low branches much more easily than Dan did.

Dan could hear the lion bear gaining on him, the animal growling and roaring every couple of seconds.

It was so dark that Dan could barely see; he kept stumbling over things he should’ve been able to avoid. Instead, he was considerably slower, which only made him try to run faster, which led to him being even more reckless, tripping over everything in his path.

All of a sudden, Dan’s foot caught on a large root. He immediately fell, his head smacking the ground painfully. He heard the lion-bear’s footsteps thundering towards him, he tried to scream, but the breath had been knocked out of him when he’d fallen, and he tried to gasp but no air would come.

Dan pried his eyes open and looked frantically for Phil, but he had cut his head when he’d fallen and blood was dripping down his face, threatening to get into his eyes.

Dan’s heart sank as he realized that even if he could call for help, there was no way Phil would ever come back for him. Why would he, when his problems could be so easily solved by letting Dan get eaten by the lion-bear? It’d be two birds with one stone, Dan would be out of his hair and it wouldn’t even be Phil’s fault.

The breath suddenly rushed back into Dan, and he was gasping for air. Frantically, he tried to summon fire in his hands, knowing that it was an emergency and that he could die if he couldn’t. Even with that mindset, the fire refused to appear; Dan’s fear of it too great, even in the face of death.

“Help!” he called frantically, even while he continued to try to firebend. _Come on_ , he thought desperately, his hands shaking in front of his face. He even tried to stand, but Phil’s make-shift earth cast had broken when he’d fallen, and his partially healed ankle had gotten injured again on the tree-root.

Dan let out a sob, not even feeling his fingers start to heat up with the tell-tale sign of fire, which is when he gave up. He struggled to look behind him, and saw the lion-bear leap over a fallen tree, only a few feet from Dan.

Suddenly, a wall of earth erupted in front of Dan, and the lion-bear roared in confusion. Branches snapped under Phil’s feet as he sprinted towards Dan, but the lion-bear ran around the wall and came barreling towards him as well. Phil got there first, sliding in the dirt and covering Dan’s body with his own, before earth shot up all around them in a small encasing.

Phil was panting, his body pressed completely against Dan, who was still twisted around uncomfortably. The lion-bear growled outside their stone house, but it couldn’t do anything to get in. Dan’s body was shaking, and Phil rested his forehead on Dan’s shoulder.

“Why’d you come back for me?” Dan whispered. Phil laughed weakly.

“I don’t know.”

Dan accepted that answer well enough. They laid in silence for a few minutes, listening for the lion-bear as well as letting their bodies calm down from the near-death experience.

“Are you okay?” Phil asked. The ceiling of the earth around them was so low that Phil couldn’t have sat up if he wanted to.

“I hurt my ankle again,” Dan said.

“I can make you another splint,” Phil said. “And then we should probably get out of here.”

"What if it's still out there?" Dan asked, resisting the urge to grab Phil in fear.

"I think we'd hear it," Phil said. And then the walls melted around them, shifting back into the dirt underneath them and rumbling quietly. Neither of them moved for a moment, both listening hard, until they'd assured that the lion-bear was gone.

"Let's get back to our camp and I'll make a fire," Phil said. Then he reached down and felt along the bottom of Dan's leg, until his hand came in contact with the injured part. Dan hissed in pain, and then he felt the earth come up and form a brace around his ankle.

They slowly made their way back to the camp, Dan limping and Phil walking beside him, prepared to reach out and catch Dan if he fell. Dan felt dizzy and nauseous as they walked, which he attributed to the pain in his leg.

When they made it back to the camp, Phil spent nearly half an hour banging rocks together until a spark finally took to the bark. They both cheered when it lit, and Phil looked up at Dan in excitement, before his expression morphed into one of fear.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Dan asked, his voice sounding slow and thick.

"Your head!" Phil said, pointing at Dan's face. "Fuck! Why didn't you tell me you'd hit your head?"

"My head?" Dan said slowly, vaguely remembering falling. His head _had_  hit the ground, hadn't it? Dan reached up, his hand coming into contact with thick, concealed blood, and pain immediately exploded in his temple. Dan gasped and drew his hand away, feeling even dizzier than before.

"Oh shit! You could have a concussion," Phil said, his eyes wide with fear. "Get closer to the fire so I can see better."

Dan shook his head, which turned out to be a mistake, as his head throbbed with the movement and nausea overwhelmed him. Dan's hands flew up to cover his mouth, but the feeling passed. "No," he finally muttered.

Phil rolled his eyes, and he came around the fire and knelt in front of Dan. He looked extremely concerned, and he tentatively raised his hand and moved some of the hair out of Dan's face. Dan winced.

"Fuck," Phil muttered again, and then he looked around frantically. "Water," he said decisively. "We need water."

"We're _low_  on water," Dan muttered, which was true. They'd had a few bottles at first, but most of them were empty now and they'd been waiting to find a clean looking water-source.

Phil ignored him and retrieved one of their few remaining bottles, as well as a cloth out of his bag. He then began carefully dabbing at Dan's face, apologizing with every hiss and flinch Dan made.

“How are you feeling?” Phil asked, his voice quiet. The fire was crackling, too loudly, for Dan’s taste, and every once in a while he jerked away from it as cinders flew into the air.

“Fine,” Dan lied. Phil had wrapped a makeshift bandage around his head out of strips of cloth, which vaguely made the injury feel better. Still, his head was throbbing, even as Phil returned his hand to his lap, continuing to look at Dan with concern. “I’ll just sleep it off.”

“No way!” Phil said immediately, his hands rising a little as if to grab Dan and actually prevent him from going to sleep. “I’ve heard that if you sleep when you have a concussion you can fall into a coma.”

“I probably don’t even have a concussion,” Dan said, laying down on the ground and closing his eyes. He was too close to the fire to feel entirely safe, but exhaustion prevented him from moving. Plus, there were rocks digging into his sides, though Dan figured he could just put up with them.

“Dan,” Phil said sternly, his voice already sounding more quiet. “Don’t expect to sleep long.”

And Dan didn’t. It was only a couple hours later, the sun having still yet to rise, when Phil woke him again.

“No,” Dan moaned, curling into a ball and trying to fall back to sleep.

“Wake up and drink some water,” Phil persuaded, shoving a canteen into Dan’s hands. Dan took a few sips before pushing it towards Phil again and closing his eyes.

“I think I’m going to go look for more water. Is that okay?” Phil asked. Dan was too tired to object, and so he said nothing when Phil patted his arm and started to walk away, but really Dan was scared. What if the lion-bear came back? Or an evil spirit?

Still, Dan’s worries fizzled out as he fell asleep again, a small part of him vaguely realizing that Phil hadn’t made him sleep in a cage ever since the lion-bear incident.

—

“Do you think he’s okay?”

“I’ve no clue. What’s that wrapped around his head?”

“A bandage of some sort?”

Suddenly, someone was shaking Dan’s shoulder, and Dan sat up groggily, his head pounding as he did. The sunlight made his eyes ache, and Dan squinted up at the two figures in front of him. _Where the hell was Phil?_

“Are you alright?” the girl asked, looking down at Dan with worry. Dan’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls, and he couldn’t find it in him to actually respond.

“Of course he’s not,” the guy beside her answered. “He’s out here all alone. How could he possibly be okay?”

Dan was paranoid. What if Phil was standing behind one of the trees, trying to see how Dan would react to normal travelers? Or what if they weren’t normal travelers? What if they were here to hurt Dan?

“I’m not by myself,” Dan finally managed to say. His throat felt dry and scratchy, and he would kill for some water right then.

“You’re not?” the girl asked skeptically. “Then where—?”

“Dan!” a voice called from slightly behind Dan. “I brought water!” A bowl made of rock skidded into the clearing, clearly controlled by Phil, the water inside somehow not spilling. Both of the people in front of Dan jumped backwards in surprise, exchanging looks.

Phil trampled into the clearing next, though he froze when his eyes fell on the two visitors. “Who’s this?” he said after a pause, looking at Dan sternly. Dan felt the necklace around his neck twitch, and he had to restrain the urge to flinch.

Before Dan had a chance to answer, however, one of the newcomers stepped forward, raising his hands. The freshly retrieved water shot into the air, forming icicles, each of them pointing towards Dan and Phil.

“I spent forever looking for that water!” Phil complained, even as rocks joined the icicles in the air, Phil poised with his fists raised.

“Woah, hold it!” the girl shouted, her arms raised peacefully. “Pj, return their water.”

Pj glared at her, but he complied, cautiously putting the stolen water back in the earth bowl. Phil slowly let the rocks fall back to the earth, though he looked wary doing it.

“Alright, what’s going on?” the girl said then, clearly the leader of whatever meeting was going on.

“We’re just traveling,” Phil answered, stepping closer to Dan.

“What happened to him?” Pj asked suspiciously, gesturing to Dan.

“Lion-bear attack,” Dan croaked, and Phil looked at him with worry, hurrying over with a filled canteen.

“Drink,” he instructed. Dan rolled his eyes but ended up chugging almost all of the water anyway.

The girl gave Pj a significant look, and he glared at her. “No way, Louise,” he scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Peej,” she said persuasively, and Pj sighed loudly. He stared at Dan for a few long seconds, before speaking up.

“I can heal that if you want,” he said, stepping slightly closer. Phil raised his eyebrows.

“How?” he questioned.

“I’m a waterbender,” Pj answered, wiggling his fingers in the air. “Healing’s a rare waterbending technique, but not completely unheard of.” Phil looked at Dan with uncertainty, and Dan just shrugged. He was willing to do anything to get rid of the pounding in his head by then.

Pj knelt next to Dan on the ground, and he dipped his hand into the earth bowl, his hand coming out covered in a film of water. He then pressed it lightly against Dan’s head and closed his eyes, his brows lowering as he concentrated. It happened slowly, but Dan felt it: it was like his injury was being sucked out of his head, the wound closing beneath the bandage.

“And his leg,” Phil piped up suddenly, once Pj had lowered his hand, panting slightly. Pj glanced down at Dan’s ankle which was still wrapped in rock. Phil broke the rock open with a flick of his wrist, and Pj reached over and worked on healing that too.

“I’m not the best at healing,” Pj admitted, once the pain in Dan’s leg had significantly subsided. “You’ll still need to keep off that as much as possible, and you’ll need lots of rest for your head to heal the rest of the way too.”

“Thank you,” Dan said, before unwrapping the now useless cloth from around his head. He glanced over at Phil, who was examining Pj carefully.

“Yeah, thanks,” Phil added quietly.

Louise plopped herself down on the ground across from Phil, leaning against a tree.

“You know,” she said conversationally. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an earthbender.”

Phil’s eyes widened, and he stiffened slightly, his fingers curling into the earth beneath him.

“Oh calm down,” Louise laughed. “I’m not gonna turn you into the Fire Nation or anything.”

Phil relaxed slightly, though he still looked distrustful.

“Pj and I, we travel a lot,” Louise said. “And, well, we could really use another bender on our side.”

Phil’s mouth dropped open. He exchanged looks with Dan, who was equally surprised. Even worse, it didn’t feel like such a bad idea. And why the hell was Dan feeling like that anyway? He’d been _kidnapped_. He should be screaming and crying to these strangers, telling them so (although Dan had a feeling that they’d be on Phil’s side, seeing as he’d kidnapped a Fire Nation soldier). Instead of all that, though, Dan felt oddly… at peace. For once in _years_  he wasn’t being constantly bullied, wasn’t being put through vigorous tests, in which he’d have to pretend to firebend while simultaneously being scared of all the fire around him.

Despite literally being attacked by a lion-bear only hours ago, and despite traveling with the very person who kidnapped him, Dan felt content. Unafraid. Of course, he couldn’t express this. Something inside him told him that was wrong, that he should want to go back to his old life, even if it was crappy and horrible and something that Dan had often wished to escape. Dan couldn’t let himself enjoy anything that happened now, it just wouldn’t be right.

“What do you think?” Phil said, turning to Dan. Dan’s eyes widened, and he spluttered in response. Why was Phil asking his opinion? Was it to keep up appearances in front of these strangers, to make them think that he and Phil really were just traveling partners? Or did he actually value Dan’s opinion? If Dan said no, would Phil go with that?

Except, Dan didn’t really want to say no. Traveling was dangerous, and so was camping out at night. They were lucky to have come across Pj, who just happened to have abilities that’d managed to heal Dan. Without him, Dan wasn’t entirely sure how long it would’ve taken him to heal, or if he would’ve made it at all.

“It could be fun,” Dan said with a nod, and Phil grinned.

“We’re in,” he answered, and Louise smiled in response.

“Awesome!”

Pj summarily plopped his bag on the ground. “Oh thank god, I’ve been dying to eat,” he announced, before digging into his bag and retrieving a sandwich, which he immediately began munching on. His eyes looked bright, and he looked much happier and friendlier than he had mere moments ago. Louise laughed.

“He likes to keep up an intimidating demeanor in front of strangers,” she explained.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Pj said around his mouthful of food. Dan laughed, as did Phil, which made Dan suddenly feel unsettled. He wasn’t _actually_  apart of this group. He was just Phil’s prisoner, and _Phil_  was apart of the group. Dan was an actor. He was an actor or else Phil would kill him with the very rock around his neck.

What would they all do, if they found out Dan was a firebender? And even worse than that, a Fire Nation soldier?

No, they wouldn’t, Dan decided. He would make sure they wouldn’t. Only Phil would ever know that Dan had been a soldier, unless he wanted to blow his own cover, and only Dan knew that he could firebend, which he never would.

At one point, Pj had stared at Dan for a few minutes, his face scrunched up in concentration. “Have I seen you before?” he asked.

“No,” Dan answered instantly.

“Are you sure?” Pj ventured. “I could’ve sworn I’ve seen your face…”

It was shortly after that that Dan begged off, claiming he had a headache. It was weird, sitting in a circle full of strangers and just listening to them talk and get to know each other. Dan had never felt so far away from people he was right next to.

He couldn’t help wondering what would end up happening next. Because surely, things couldn’t remain good for long.


	6. Chapter 6

"I am not eating that," Dan grouched, sneering at the bowl of soup Phil was holding out to him. Dan was probably right in thinking that it was going to taste gross, but it was the best they had.

"It's not _that_  bad," Pj assured, though Phil wasn't so sure he believed him. He _was_  plugging his nose to eat it, after all.

"If you guys don't like it you can make your own soup," Louise grumbled, shoving a large spoonful into I'm her mouth and swallowing it with a grimace. Dan took the bowl with a sigh, wrinkling his nose as he stared into it.

Phil just thought they were lucky that it was even warm. Starting a fire was impossibly difficult, and it'd taken them all a number of tries for the rocks to finally spark together and light the branches on fire. They'd taken turns in a circle, passing the rocks from person to person and banging them together as hard as they could.

Well, most of them had tried hard anyway. Each time the rocks had ended up in Dan's hands, he'd looked queasy and Phil was sure that he wasn't giving it his all. Maybe he didn't like fire much, seeing as he'd been bullied by firebenders; or maybe he was still pissed at Phil for kidnapping him, and even more mad for sticking him with two new strangers as well. It wasn't like he could actively threaten Dan anymore either, so it'd be a problem if Dan said something to Louise and Pj or tried to run away. All Phil really had was the rock around Dan's neck and the trust that Dan's fear of him was probably enough to keep him from running away.

It had been Louise who'd finally managed to get the branches to light. They'd all cheered then, scooting closer and warming their freezing fingers. All except Dan, who'd stayed well away and shoved his fingers into a pair of gloves Pj had procured for them.

Phil was positive that teaming up with Louise and Pj was the best thing that could've happened to them. They had more supplies and tons more experience, and they knew the quickest travel routes to all the nearby cities. Phil hadn't asked, but he was confident they would know where the best hiding places were too.

"What's even in here?" Dan asked, poking at a mysterious glob with his spoon. Louise stood and leaned over the fire, which had Dan spluttering and yelling, "Careful!"

Louise paused, looking at the fire below her, and then to Dan. "It's okay," she said calmly. "Even if I caught on fire, Peej could put me out."

Dan nodded, looking pale, and Louise squinted into his soup. "I'm not quite sure what that is," she admitted. "It kind of looks like the mushroom and meat combined."

"There's _meat_  in here?" Pj asked incredulously, poking into his own bowl. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"What kind of meat?"

" _That_  I'm not so sure about," Louise answered.

Dan gagged.

"I'm sure it's fine," Phil said, finally dishing some soup into his own bowl, though he was careful to avoid scooping as much as the mystery meat as he could.

Despite the taste, Phil really _was_  thankful that the soup was warm. It was freezing out, and having finally stopped after the long day of walking (well, walking on and off, as Pj insisted was better for Dan's healing ankle), they all wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep. They couldn't though, because they might freeze overnight, or at the very least catch pneumonia. They all ended up going to get more branches at one point or another, trying to doze in between shifts. It felt like the wood was burning so fast though, and they could hardly get any rest at all.

"This is stupid," Pj announced. "I know we're all relatively new to knowing each other, but we should all just huddle and share our warmth. Then, at least, we wouldn't have to keep getting fire wood."

"I'm in," Louise said immediately, standing up and plopping herself down right next to Pj. Phil followed suit, scooting over to Pj as well and pressing their sides together.

"Dan?" Pj said, looking over at Dan who had yet to move.

"Ah, no thanks. I'm not cold," Dan said, which was an obvious lie. He was shivering just as hard as the rest of them, and he wasn't even sitting close to the fire.

"Feel free to join us any time," Pj offered, and Dan didn't respond, just turned his face towards the fire.

Phil felt warmer already, and even better, Pj pulled out a blanket which he wrapped around the three of them. Phil rolled his eyes at Dan's stubbornness, who was still sitting on the log he'd been occupying before with his arms wrapped around his legs.

It was about two hours later, when both Pj and Louise had fallen asleep, that Dan stood up and tiptoed to them. Phil pretended to be asleep, afraid Dan wouldn't actually lay down and freeze to death instead.

Dan slowly, very carefully, lifted the corner of the blanket and eased himself down onto the ground. He scooted slightly towards Phil, though he didn't let any part of their bodies touch, which was ridiculous. Phil was pressed completely against Pj and he was _still_  cold. There was no way that Dan wasn't on the brink of freezing.

Pretending to be asleep, and in the interest of not letting Dan freeze to death, he reached out and wrapped his arm around Dan's torso, pulling him back against his chest. Dan squeaked at this, his entire body stiffening, but Phil didn't relent. He could feel how cold Dan was even through his clothes.

Slowly, Dan unstiffened, his body relaxing into Phil's. Phil knew the exact moment that Dan fell asleep, his breaths evening out and his body relaxing into Phil's even more. After that, Phil finally let himself fall asleep, knowing that he didn't have to worry about Dan anymore.

\--

Phil awoke groggily the next morning, finding himself barely able to breathe. He pried open his eyes and was disconcerted to find that he couldn't really see anything. It took Phil a few moments to realize that someone was laying completely on top of him.

"Have a good sleep?" someone asked, sounding smug. Standing above him, Dan loomed into vision, leaving Phil wondering who the hell was on top of him. For some odd reason, he’d expected it to be Dan. He squinted at the figure covering his body and finally discerned the tell tale curly hair of Pj.

"Yeah, he does that," Louise said with a laugh, her footsteps crunching in the leaves and on the hard, frosted grass. She was emerging from the forest, a few twigs sticking out of her hair, and she smiled fondly at the sight of Pj.

"Can I wake him?" Phil asked.

"I am awake," Pj said, his face still pressed against Phil's chest. "But you're warm."

"Get off him," Louise laughed, and Pj groaned but complied, rolling off of Phil. “He does that a lot,” Louise said with a roll of her eyes. “Soon we’ll all have been cuddled by Pj.”

Phil noticed that Dan looked a bit queasy at the idea (Phil had a sudden, horrible thought that he might’ve kidnapped a homophobe, in which case, he should’ve left him for dead with the lion-bear).

“It’s not my fault that I am a creature of warmth. I appreciate body heat,” Pj said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes blearily. This made sense, seeing as he’d actually been the one to suggest they all cuddle up during the night.

“No, but it _will be_  your fault when we develop back problems,” Louise stated with a huff.

“That’s not for a long time yet,” Pj replied decisively before actually standing up and wandering towards the pitiful fire.

“Who got the fire going again?” Phil asked, following Pj closer to the warmth of the fire.

“Dan did,” Louise said casually, not paying attention as she started to rifle through her bag. Dan looked at her with wide, frightful eyes.

“Wait… I thought you did?”

Louise paused before pulling her hand out of the bag and looking up at him. “What?”

“I thought you’d started it. You were off in the forest somewhere when I woke up, but I just assumed…”

“It wasn’t going when I woke up,” Louise said, glancing nervously at the fire.

“It _was_  when I did,” Dan repeated. “How long were you gone?”

“I left sometime around sunrise.”

“The sun was well up by the time I woke,” Dan said slowly.

The group all took a look at the fire warily before Pj took a tentative step back. “Either someone came along, gathered kindle, and banged rocks together that _somehow_  didn’t wake us up to start a fire, or…”

“Or what?” Dan asked.

“Or something else somehow silently started one.”

“Firebenders,” Louise said immediately, glancing around as if there might be one hiding in the trees, waiting for this exact moment to lay siege on their camp.

“Then why wouldn’t they have just lit us on fire? Why restart our camp fire?” Phil inquired.

“Maybe they want to creep us out, make us feel unsafe,” Pj suggested.

“Maybe it wasn’t a firebender,” Dan said quietly.

“What else could’ve done it? In the amount of time between you and Louise waking up, silently?” Pj asked skeptically.

“A spirit?” Dan suggested. “A fire spirit?”

“Spirits don’t exist,” Pj said with a scoff, and Louise nodded along.

“Yes they do!” Dan argued immediately, before whipping his head around, as if an offended spirit were about to come rampaging out of the woods.

“I agree with Dan,” Phil said. “My father once told me about a spirit he encountered. ‘Said it was angry until a nearby town stopped polluting its river.” Phil, however, never expected to meet a spirit simply because his father had. It did seem like a bit of a reach, especially when a much easier answer would be to blame it on firebenders, even if it seemed like a scary option. Because what were they to do if firebenders knew where they were?

“I say that’s bull,” Pj said, biting his lip. “And even if spirits are real, could one even light a fire? And why would it?”

“Well, we’re not spirit experts,” Dan replied, though he still looked wary. Phil wondered why he was so afraid of spirits anyway.

“You know what,” Louise piped up. “Let’s just forget about the fire and get away from here. Plus, we need to get coats or something today. We won’t last without them.”

“I hate stealing,” Dan muttered, looking anxious already.

“You did so well last time,” Phil beamed, and Dan rolled his eyes. The group packed up their small amount of things, making sure to put out the fire well, covered with damp dirt and all, before setting off. Apparently there was a small town only a few hours walk away from them, which they planned to get to by lunch. They’d all opted out of breakfast in hopes of eating something actually good and fulfilling later on in the day, as well as to save their rations just in case.

By the time they arrived at the town, they’d all fallen relatively silent at the prospect of the task before them. It wasn’t exactly easy to steal things, and they couldn’t just waltz in and buy the things they needed. For one thing, that made Dan and Phil much more likely to get noticed (Phil still didn’t know what to say to Pj and Louise about them needing to lay even more low than usual) and for another, none of them even had any money. Their only option was to steal what they so desperately needed, even if it left them queasy with anxiety.

“Ready?” Louise said lightly. They were stood on a hill before the town, looking down upon it. It seemed relatively easy to navigate, and they could each clearly see the easiest places to escape from. Their plan was to split up, figuring that they’d each be able to steal the things they needed easier if they were alone than if they were traveling in a big pack. This made Phil worry, seeing as he wouldn’t know where Dan was or even have control over him, and he’d made the rock around Dan’s neck dig into his skin a little as warning. Dan had looked at him with wide eyes, before glowering when he realized why Phil had done it.

“As we’ll ever be,” Phil finally replied, before starting down the hill. The rest followed, their footsteps quick and uneven thanks to the slope of the hill. They each entered the gate a couple paces apart, immediately breaking configuration and heading towards opposite corners of the town. Phil watched Dan for as long as he could manage before he turned to focus on what he really needed.

And as it turned out, stealing a coat was really, really hard. All the shopkeepers here acted unusually attentive, unlike the one Dan and Phil had encountered in the last town. No matter what store Phil entered, people greeted him and asked him how he was. A few had even commented on his lack of appropriate wear, seeing as “the weather’s turning, lad!” Even more disconcerting, a few had looked at Phil oddly, squinting their eyes and turning their heads as if looking for something more. Phil had simply smiled and pretended to browse, before leaving in search of a better chance.

It took almost an hour, but Phil finally managed to snag one in a larger shop. He’d slipped the coat off the hanger and onto his torso, pleased to find that it was comfortably heavy and warm. He’d glanced around to make sure that no one was watching, and when the coast was clear, he hurried out of the side door and disappeared as quickly as possible.

Phil immediately headed for the center of town, to where they’d all agreed to meet up. He vaguely thought to try to nab some food on the way if he could before a hand was clapped over his mouth and he was tugged into an alley. His reflexes reacted immediately, earth shooting up between him and the attacker and slamming the attacker into the wall.

The attacker groaned, and Phil lowered the wall of earth, mouth gaping open when he realized he’d just rock slammed Dan, who was touching the back of his head tenderly. His hand came away bloody.

“Fuck, Dan!” Phil gasped. “I’m so sorry!”

“Posters,” Dan said, staring at Phil with a strange amount of intensity. Worryingly, Phil realized that he wasn’t actually making eye contact. Even worse, Pj had already assumed that Dan had a concussion, and Phil had most likely just made it even worse.

“What? What does that mean?” Phil demanded, feeling frantic.

“Missing,” Dan mumbled.

Deciding that Dan was obviously delirious with his head injury (Phil winced with guilt, promising himself that he’d get Pj to heal it), Phil turned around and grabbed Dan’s hands to wrap his arms around his neck. He pulled until Dan got the hint and managed a little hop, becoming almost situated on Phil’s back. Phil bounced a couple times, centering Dan, before grabbing his thighs and carrying him more securely in a piggyback ride. He immediately started towards the center of town, determined to find their companions, and fast.

“Phil,” Dan whispered, his face pressed against Phil’s shoulder. “Posters,” he said urgently.

“Yes, yes, okay,” Phil placated, his mind spinning with questions. Dan wasn’t making any sense, and he had to find Pj to heal Dan.

Luckily, Pj found Phil first, bursting out of a side street and sighing in relief when he saw Phil.

“There you are!” he exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?”

“This!” Pj held up a piece of paper, on which were both his and Dan’s faces, with the word -MISSING- printed underneath it.

“Oh fuck,” Phil cursed, staring at the paper.

“It gets worse,” Pj said. “Apparently this is Dan _Howell_. As in _General Howell’s_  son. You, apparently, are on the run with the biggest reward I’ve ever seen.” Pj pointed to the amount of money that’d been offered for the return of Dan.

“Poster,” Dan muttered again. Before, “Lie.”

Phil squeezed Dan’s legs in warning. Was he trying to tell Pj right now? That Phil had kidnapped him? Didn’t he know what Phil could do to him? Especially after hurting him so badly as an _accident_?

“What?” Pj said, only now seeming to register that Phil was carrying Dan on his back.

“Listen,” Phil said quickly. “Dan jumped out at me— scared the shit out of me— and I may have accidentally injured his head again. He’s really out of it, I need you to heal him.”

Pj opened his mouth to respond, but Dan spoke again. “Lying,” he said. “Father. No reward.”

“There _is_  a reward,” Pj said, holding up the poster. There was a one followed by many zeros underneath Dan’s name.

“No,” Dan whispered. “Lying.” He seemed completely convinced of this fact, which Pj seemed to accept. There wasn’t any time for shoving the poster in his face any longer anyway.

“Where’s Louise?” Phil asked.

“I was hoping she’d’ve found you already,” Pj admitted.

“Well maybe she went to the town center to find us,” Phil suggested. Pj shook his head quickly.

“The center is covered with these posters, Louise would know that we wouldn’t be there if she saw one,” Pj said. “If this little town has that many fliers, how many do you think bigger towns would have? And cities?”

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Phil admitted.

Dan whimpered suddenly, his hands clenching tighter around Phil’s neck. “Dan? You okay up there?” Phil asked.

“They’re coming,” he said quietly, sounding so defeated that Phil tried to crane his neck to look back at him. In doing so, he noticed three firebenders racing towards them, their feet falling so heavily that it was a wonder Phil hadn’t sensed them coming. Usually he was pretty good at that kind of thing, but ever since he’d started spending so much time with Dan, he felt unusually distracted, and the little vibrations and things rarely reached him through the earth unless he concentrated.

“Run!” Pj shouted, taking off down the side street he’d appeared on. Phil tore after him, wanting to use the earth to help propel him forward and just barely managing not to. He couldn’t risk it, not when they were most likely just after the two of them because they were missing (and because Dan had quite the reward). But if Phil earthbended, then they’d be after him for a whole other reason.

“Dan, you coward!” one of the firebenders yelled. “Always running from your problems!”

Dan let out a little dry sob into Phil’s neck, and Phil ran even harder. He’d thought that the soldiers behind them were just random ones from this town, possibly even after them because of their thievery, but that was clearly not the case. They must’ve been on his and Dan’s trail ever since they’d gone missing, only now catching up with them.

“We have to find Louise!” Pj panted, whipping his head back and forth at the end of the street before choosing a random direction and running again. Phil was having a hard time keeping up with Dan weighing him down, even if he was ridiculously tiny.

“You scared, Dan? Scared we might burn you?” another soldier called before a ball of fire narrowly missed them, the heat of it close enough to sting. Dan gasped, his fingers digging into Phil’s neck, and Phil charged forward determinedly.

What Phil did next was reckless, but he couldn’t help it, knowing how scared Dan was. He could feel him shaking violently with fear. He whipped his head around, taking a second to calculate, before shifting the earth just barely, so that right before the fastest firebender’s foot appeared a rock, which the soldier tumbled over, consequently knocking over his companions. It bought Phil a bit of time, and he whipped around the next corner Pj had just ran around, almost colliding into him.

Louise then appeared just a few streets down from them, and a look of relief washed over her face when she spotted them.

“I’m gonna kill you!” a soldier shouted behind them, which immediately prompted Pj and Phil to start running.

“Run!” Pj barked at Louise, who took off without a thought, leaving Pj and Phil in her dust. They barreled out of the town, racing back up the hill they’d originally descended. The Fire Nation soldiers were still chasing them, yelling and throwing fire as they did.

“How’re we gonna get away?” Louise gasped, leading them straight into the forest.

“Leave it to me,” Phil instructed. He glanced behind them, relieved to see that they were still a bit behind. “Get deeper into the forest, I can’t be seen.”

They kept running, though Phil starting to slow down slightly, thanks to Dan’s weight making him sluggish. He did his best to avoid letting branches and foliage whip into Dan.

Phil found the best area he could, a relatively open patch of ground, which he immediately made into a hole. It was large enough to accommodate the four of them, and concentrating hard, he made it begin to tunnel further into the earth.

“In,” Phil commanded, and Pj and Louise obeyed without a second thought. Phil could hear the soldiers blundering after them, leaves and brambles as loud as alarms under their footsteps. Phil descended quickly into the hole, doing his best not to jostle Dan, before he quickly covered the opening over him again.

“Let’s go,” he said, leading them down the tunnel. He stuck in the lead to pave the way through the makeshift tunnel as they walked. It was exhausting work, and after only a half an hour he felt ready to drop.

Really, it was Dan who finally convinced him to take a break.

“Hurts,” Dan whispered, and Phil abruptly stopped.

“I think we’re far enough,” he announced. “Pj, can you heal Dan’s head?”

Pj agreed readily, and they all set up camp on the ground, despite the pitch blackness surrounding them. It’d be helpful if they had a light, but Phil wasn’t idiotic enough to suggest they go above ground to search for firewood.

Summoning water out of the damp ground around them, Pj set to work on healing Dan. It only took a minute or two, but Phil’s anxiety didn’t ease at all until Dan was breathing easily and no longer sounded in pain.

“How do you feel?” Pj probed, and Dan groaned meekly. “That’s to be expected.”

“I hope they don’t find us again,” Dan admitted. “I hate those guys.”

Pj hummed thoughtfully. “Do you two plan on telling us why you’re missing together? I mean, sure, Phil’s an earthbender, but did you really have to escape so noticeably?”

Phil didn’t even have time to warn Dan with a tug of his necklace before Dan was responding. “No one approved of our relationship, and we were tired of hiding,” Dan said wildly.

Pj was silent for a long moment, before he laughed. “I _told_  you, Louise. Oh, I _so_  had you two pinned as a couple!”

Phil was too stunned to say anything. Out of every excuse in the entire world, Dan had, for some reason, gone with _that_  one? (At least, Phil thought, he wasn’t homophobic.)

“I’m not paying you,” Louise sniffed, and Pj laughed again.

There was a muffled pat, as if Pj had patted Dan reassuringly on the shoulder, before a long pause. “Dan…” he said slowly.

“What?”

“Did you not get a jacket?”

Dan said nothing for a few moments. “I didn’t manage it, no.”

Pj was silent for a moment. “We’ll have to steal you one eventually. Although maybe, we’ll just not take you two into town with us. You know, since you’re missing and all.”

“Thankfully you have a boyfriend to warm you up!” Louise said with a laugh, and Dan laughed uncomfortably with her.

“Yeah, ha ha,” he chuckled unconvincingly. “Thankfully.”

He made his way over to Phil then, as it would clearly be weird if he just stayed where he was after that comment of Louise’s. He sank down next to Phil, close enough so that their shoulders were touching, before Phil felt him shift. He was almost positive that Dan was resting his face against his knees in defeat.

Phil resisted the urge to sigh, loud and long. It wouldn’t do anything to help them now, and they’d just have to make do with Dan’s excuse. It wasn’t as if they could do anything to fix it now. Phil just took off his jacket and laid it over Dan’s shoulders, ignoring the sudden cold that attempted to invade his torso. Dan definitely needed it more than him anyway, after being without a jacket during that whole time on top of his head injury.

“Thanks,” Dan muttered.

“No problem.”

They all went to sleep feeling uneasy, and when they woke the next morning to Dan yelling, it was immediately apparent why.

In the middle of the tunnel sat a perfect little campfire, crackling ominously.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: there's kind of a near death experience that has to do with fire towards the end of this chapter, so just read cautiously if that'll affect you :]

Dan slumped along at the back of the group, not bothering to participate in the conversation. He was too paranoid, constantly afraid that whatever had been setting the fires at night would appear. Dan felt queasy at the thought. He hated getting burned, hating the initial shock of the pain and the way the wound hurt for days afterward. He was barely getting any sleep anymore, constantly fighting to stay awake in case something came.

"It hasn't hurt us yet," Pj had said tentatively that morning, shortly after they’d all started running down the tunnel, Phil hastily extending it as they ran. He’d even collapsed the tunnel over the fire so they wouldn’t have to look at it as they ran away. "So maybe we don't have to worry."

"Are you kidding!?" Dan had snapped. "We could be set on fire in our _sleep_  and you don't want to worry about it?"

There was also, of course, the fact that the population at large now knew he was missing. He and Phil couldn't show their faces around any towns in case they were recognized, which was going to make it a lot harder for Dan to get a coat. Even worse, Dan was sure that everyone would know that he and Phil were traveling with Pj and Louise now. Dan didn’t doubt that Peter and his cronies would relay the fact that he and Phil weren’t alone onward. It was unlikely now that even Louise and Pj could go into a town safely, so they had to be extra careful. They'd even sprinted off the path and hid in the bushes when they'd seen other travelers coming to avoid being seen, just in case.

"You know what," Phil said now, stopping abruptly. "I feel disgusting. I need a shower. Or a bath, or something."

Louise groaned at the thought. "What I wouldn’t do to wash my hair," she said longingly. Her hair was perpetually wrapped up in a bun, both because it was long and could be bothersome, and because she claimed that it was so greasy it had to be worn this way.

"Let's find a river," Pj suggested. Dan's body ached viciously at the thought, wanting desperately to be clean, but also at the idea of swimming with company. Most people didn’t swim with their clothes on, did they?

“Isn’t it too cold to swim?” Dan said hopefully.

“At night, definitely,” Pj said. “But it isn’t so cold during the day, and as long as we’re moving, we’ll be fine.”

“How can we find one?" Phil asked, looking excited. They were all thoroughly caked in dirt and sweat, and it _would_  feel great to finally get it all off of themselves.

"It's not that hard," Pj said casually. "We just have to start heading downhill, and we’ll come across one eventually. Plus, I can kind of tell when we're getting close. You know, waterbending shit."

“Pj, you're my hero," Louise declared dramatically, swooning against Pj. The three of them immediately started in a different direction, leaving the path through the forest and venturing randomly downhill. Dan reluctantly followed, worried that they might actually find a river.

It took a while, and Dan was starting to think that Pj had made up the whole thing about finding water, but eventually Pj stopped. “Hold on,” he said intently, closing his eyes.

“What? Why?” Louise demanded, but Pj simply shushed her.

“We’re close,” he announced, and Louise and Phil both cheered, grabbing each other’s shoulders and jumping excitedly.

Pj then proudly started to lead the way, until they came to a small, trickling creek.

“This is _not_  a river,” Louise huffed.

“Just you wait,” Pj responded. They ended up walking along it’s bank for almost an hour, until suddenly it was much larger and much deeper.

“Here’s a good spot,” Pj said, immediately plopping his bag on the ground. “It’s deep but not  _too_  deep, and there aren’t too many trees blocking the sun, so it won’t be unbearably cold either.”

Louise was the first to get in, and Dan was shocked when she immediately took off all of her clothes, completely unabashed. Dan said something like, “Ah!” and covered his eyes, which made Pj laugh. The next thing Dan knew, Pj and Phil were getting into the river as well, both of them also completely undressing. Dan covered his eyes the entire time, blushing scarlet and feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He couldn’t very well get in there when everyone was _naked_!

“You coming, Dan?” Phil called, and Pj laughed, splashing water in Dan’s direction.

“You’re not shy, are you?” Pj teased. Dan was still covering his eyes.

“Pj and I won’t even come near you,” Louise ascertained. “I can’t make any promises about your boyfriend, though.”

Oh hell, that was just another reason that Dan shouldn’t get in the fucking river. Would it be weird if he stayed completely away from all of them? Pj and Louise would almost assuredly expect Dan and Phil to be close, maybe even touching. There was no way that Dan could touch Phil when he was naked, cuddling with him last night had been hard enough.

“Come on, get in!” Pj yelled. “Otherwise you’ll be the only one who smells after this, and it’ll be way more noticeable when it’s just you.”

Dan huffed, unable to think of a way out of this, part of him also desperate to get clean, and he started taking off his clothes. He paused when he got to his underwear, discreetly glancing towards his friends to make sure none of them were looking.

Dan paused. His _friends_? Surely he didn’t think of them like that! Of course, he just _had_  thought of them like that, but he couldn’t seriously think they were his friends. _Phil_  definitely couldn’t be his friend. You can’t befriend your kidnapper, it’s just not done— even if Phil did kidnap him away from a shitty situation. No, he was traveling with companions, and that was it. Perhaps two friends and one companion, but definitely, most certainly, not three friends. Especially not Phil, even though he’d actually been perfectly nice lately, and acted like a friend. He wasn’t one.

“What’s so special under there that you can’t take off your pants?” Pj called, and Dan reddened all over again, having forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.

“Fuck off!” Dan called back, immediately shucking off his boxers and wading into the water, relieved that no one was actually paying him any attention. The water was cold, that was undeniable, but it wasn’t unbearable.

Pj and Louise were laughing, splashing water at each other and ducking under the surface, presumably grabbing each other’s ankles if Louise’s shrieks were anything to go by. Dan carefully swam a bit closer to Phil, and Phil glanced over at him when he stopped near Phil’s side.

“You okay?” Phil asked, for some unknown reason.

“Yeah,” Dan answered simply. The water was all the way up to Dan’s chest, but for Phil it was only at his stomach.

“Hey, watch this,” Phil said, bumping his elbow into Dan’s side (Dan jerked in surprise). He watched as Phil subtly held his hand out in Pj and Louise’s direction.

Louise suddenly shrieked again, yelling, “Pj, quit it!” with a laugh.

“Quit what?” Pj said from directly behind her. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and he yelled, jumping away from Louise. “Was that _you_?”

“What are you doing to them?” Dan asked incredulously, laughing as Louise and Pj flailed around, trying to get away from whatever Phil was doing.

“Grabbing their ankles,” he responded with a grin, just at Pj roared in realization.

“Oh, you bastard!” he laughed, and a wave rose up in front of Dan and Phil, before barreling into them. They both when under, and came back up coughing and spluttering. And then it was on.

Their teams were obvious, Dan with Phil and Louise with Pj. Phil used the earth to trip them up, and Pj absolutely decimated them with waves every other second. One such wave knocked Dan directly into Phil, and Phil reflexively wrapping his arms around him. Dan was mortified, his naked back pressed against Phil’s front, but Phil didn’t even seem to think twice about it, just putting Dan back down and retaliating immediately.

They eventually calmed down, and Pj thoroughly washed all their clothes for them, before hanging them up to dry. They ended up lazing around in the water all afternoon, occasionally descending into other water fights. By the time they got out, they were all starving and feeling better than they had in a long while, fresh and clean and full of endorphins.

Dan tried to ignore the fact that he felt so happy, that today had been the most fun he could ever remember having, and helped Pj prepare dinner instead.

——

Dan glanced behind himself as he cautiously wandered away from the group. They were all asleep, and thankfully didn’t wake as Dan snuck away, cringing with each leaf crunching underfoot. It probably wasn’t a smart idea to leave them, but Dan was desperate to be alone.

Also, Dan was sick of cuddling with Phil. Pj and Louise were constantly sending them sly looks, trying to see if they were holding hands or something. Dan was just hoping they could play the part of a modest couple.

It’d be weird, though, if he didn’t sleep cuddled next to Phil. Pj and Louise expected it now, and it was all his fault. He’d been berating himself ever since he’d come up with that ridiculous lie the night before. It’s just that he’d been under pressure, and he hadn’t really been able to think, and it was the only good excuse that had come to mind. He really wished he’d found a better lie, now that he had to face the consequences.

Just earlier when they’d all been getting ready for bed, Dan still without a coat and annoyed at how cold the nights got, Pj had said that Dan was lucky.

“Having someone that cares about you so deeply? Enough to run away with you? That’s lucky,” he’d sighed.

“Yeah,” Dan had muttered. “Lucky.”

Later Phil had rolled his eyes when Dan had laid down next to him, but tugged him closer regardless. It was then that Dan decided that sleeping was his least favorite thing ever. Having to pressed up against Phil’s body for hours at a time? It was almost impossible to fall asleep, he couldn’t get comfortable and he was entirely too aware of the fact that he wasn’t alone, that everything he did affected the person right next to him.

And so he’d snuck away. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He needed to be alone and not all _close_  to Phil and having Phil breathe against his neck and sigh in his sleep. Everything he did was incredibly distracting and made Dan feel completely awake again.

He didn’t stray too far from the group, wary of getting lost, but he did get far enough away so that he felt truly alone. There was a small part of him that was afraid to be by himself, afraid that whatever evil spirit or person setting fires would come for him, but a bigger part of him just wanted to be alone. What he wouldn’t have given right then to be in a warm room with a real bed and a fluffy duvet… Even the stiff beds that Dan was used to sleeping on in his camp would’ve been better than this.

Eventually, Dan managed to let himself fall asleep, convincing himself that he'd get back to everyone else before they woke up. He would be fine. They would all be fine, and he needed nothing more than to just get some rest.

_“Only a coward can be burnt by his own hand,” Dan’s father snarled, looking down at Dan condescendingly. He was towering over him, and wearing that disapproving glare that Dan so hated to see._

_“I’m not a coward,” Dan mumbled, his voice high and shaky. This, of course, was because he was six-years-old again. It also explained why he seemed so short, more so than usual._

_“You are,” Dan’s father replied, certain. “You’re scared of everything. The back yard, the dark. Your own_ fire _.”_

 _Dan frowned, miserable. He hated it when his father talked to him like this. He wanted to believe that it wasn’t true, that what his father said was a lie, but it_ wasn’t _. Dan was practically scared of his own shadow, he wasn’t able to help it. And who wouldn’t be afraid of the ability to produce fire at will, anyway? On several occasions Dan had set things on fire without noticing, pieces of paper, brand new shirts. On one occasion, even, he’d been angry with another boy at school and his fists had become encased in flames. Dan hadn’t noticed at first, though the second he had he’d become absolutely terrified._

_“You will learn,” Dan’s father’s voice boomed. “You will learn to control fire. No son of mine will be too weak to bend,” he snarled._

_Dan backed away, frightened. His father lashed out and fire shot from his hand, grazing past Dan’s side. Dan scurried out of the way, dry sobs leaving his mouth in terror._

_“No, Dad! Stop!” he cried, trying to get away. Originally, the room they’d been in had had pillars, but now they were all gone, and there was just Dan and his father and fire._

_“Fight back. Defend yourself.”_

_Fire rained down around Dan, cascading through the room and encasing Dan on all sides. It pressed in, closer and closer, and Dan was so hot, so hot. He couldn’t breathe… he couldn’t breathe…_

He couldn’t breathe! Dan gasped awake, oxygen refusing to enter his lungs, which were instead filled with thick, acrid smoke. He squinted all around him, his mind clouded with confusion and lack of oxygen. He was still hot too, that wasn’t just from his dream.

Dan shakily managed to stand on two feet, and he squinted all around him, blinded by the light. Fire. He could breathe slightly better here, as the smoke fumes were coming directly from all the shrubbery lit on fire around him, but it was all still rising upward, making the air barely breathable.

A cough forced it’s way out of Dan’s throat, after which he couldn’t stop. His body was wracked with coughs, and he finally became aware of the pain he was in, his skin felt like it was melting from the heat of the fire.

“Dan!” someone called frantically, though Dan could do nothing but cough in response. “Fucking— shit, Dan!”

Water started falling from the trees then, getting sucked out of the leaves and cascading down on Dan. It barely did anything to the fire though, its flames roaring obnoxiously. Dan didn’t think he’d be able to stand for much longer, and already was, in fact, sinking to his knees.

“Fuck! Dan, hold on!” Pj yelled, and Dan didn’t bother to respond, just buried his head in his knees and listened to the raspy sound of _something_  moving in and out of his lungs. His insides burned, his throat felt as if it, too, were on fire, and tears were squeezing their way out of Dan’s eyes.

Barely any time later, more footsteps were racing towards him, three voices screaming his name. Without any warning, the ground underneath Dan skyrocketed, thrusting him upward and out of the flames. Louise and Pj were still screaming about something, and Dan was half aware of Pj actually putting the fire out, drawing water from the plants around them, but mostly he was aware of the pain throughout his body. He was slumped over on the slab of rock, still floating in the air, until Phil finally set him back down.

“Dan!” Louise cried, which sounded surprisingly like a sob. Before she could pull him into a hug, however, Phil was doing it, dropping onto his knees next to Dan and encasing him in his arms. Dan was shaking, his teeth chattering, and he was heaving against Phil, coughing and spluttering and trying to breathe clean air.

“Dan? Who did this to you?” Pj demanded, spinning around on the spot as if he might see the culprit, hiding just beyond a tree or a bush.

Phil was rubbing Dan’s back soothingly, which while it was supposed to help him breathe, was more distracting than anything else, really. Phil’s fingers trailing up and down him, over and over again.

“Don’t know,” Dan finally managed, turning his head in Pj’s direction. Except this was a lie. Because Dan did have an idea of who it was. A crazy, obscure, idea. His father. He didn’t have any idea how, but it made sense. Who else would want to sabotage him? To make Dan so tortured and afraid that he might find a way to contact his father himself? To get away without his father having to do any of the work?

“Are you okay?” Phil asked quietly, for the second time that day. His arms felt comforting around Dan, holding him close and soothing him.

“Yeah,” Dan lied. His lungs still burned with each breath, despite the fact that the air was now clean, and he was shaking. God, he hated fire. He hated it so much! Everything would be so much better if he wasn’t a firebender. If he wasn’t hiding a secret and was actually just normal. What person in their sane mind would want to be able to control _fire_? Something that was, inarguably, uncontrollable?

“Why were you all the way over here, anyway?” Louise asked. Dan sighed.

“I just wanted to be alone for a bit and I accidentally fell asleep.”

“We shouldn’t go off on our own anymore,” Pj said quietly. “We can’t afford to be alone. Something could’ve happened to you, Dan.”

“I know,” Dan responded, resting his head on Phil’s shoulder. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. He _especially_  didn’t want to think about the fact that Phil was comforting him, that they were touching in so many places.

“We should start taking watch,” Pj said. “We can’t all sleep at once, not when one of us could get hurt.” Everyone nodded in agreement, still shaken and afraid from everything that had happened.

Phil helped Dan back up, holding his hand as they all ventured back to their camp site. Dan tried not to think about the fact that Phil was holding his hand willingly. He also tried not to think about the fact that he didn’t mind it— enjoyed it, even. He certainly tried not to think about how when they all laid back down together, Pj saying that he would take first watch, Dan curled willingly into Phil’s chest, and Phil held him close, whispering that it would all be okay. Yeah, he definitely tried not to think about that.


	8. Chapter 8

Phil woke to the soft sound of Pj and Louise conversing, their voices quiet in consideration for him and Dan. And Dan was definitely still asleep, if the way he was sprawled across Phil’s body was to say. His arms were invading into the warmth of Phil’s coat, which was understandable, seeing as they’d yet to get one for Dan.

Surprising as it was, Phil almost felt as if he and Dan were friends. He couldn’t help wondering just what Dan was leaving behind if that was true. Of course, perhaps Dan was just an amazing actor, and he was gaining Phil’s trust only to turn around and stab him in the back later. The thought made Phil feel ill at ease, but he assumed (and hoped) that he was wrong. He was pretty sure that no one was that good of an actor. 

Dan was breathing into his ear, his breaths warm and even. It tickled, inexplicably, and Phil had to resist the urge to cringe and move away.

“You awake, Phil?” Pj whispered, and Phil raised his head slightly to look at him.

“Yes,” he whispered back.

“You two are so cute,” Louise said adoringly, smiling as she looked at the sight of Dan sleeping completely on top of Phil.

“Do you mind if we go on a walk?” Pj asked, gesturing with his head to Louise. “We didn’t want to leave while you two were asleep.”

“Yeah, sure. Go ahead,” Phil answered, watching tiredly as they stood and made off into the trees. Phil set his head back down and rested his eyes. He didn’t want to scoot out from under Dan and risk waking him up, and he was also enjoying the shared body warmth, the chill of the morning biting at him wherever he and Dan weren’t touching.

He was almost completely sure that his friends were leaving in an attempt to give him and Dan some privacy. They’d never done any super couple-y things in front of Pj and Louise, the obvious answer being that they weren’t an actual couple. But maybe the two thought that with them gone, Phil would be waking Dan up with kisses or something. Maybe they even thought that they would have _sex_. The thought made him red in the face. But no, Phil was just going to lay here and wait for Dan to wake up on his own. 

It was some time later, the sun having risen a bit more, when Dan’s breath hitched in Phil’s ear. He turned his head slightly, trying to assess if Dan was waking up, but Dan’s eyes were still closed and he slept on. Almost imperceptibly, Dan’s fingers tightened on the material of Phil’s shirt. Phil would’ve thought nothing of it, if Dan hadn’t let out a faint whimper moments later.

Was he having a nightmare? Should Phil wake him?

Dan started breathing heavier then, and Phil was just on the verge of waking him when Dan moaned softly in his ear. And then his hips started to move subtly against Phil.

Eyes going wide, realization suddenly dawned on Phil, and his face flamed in embarrassment. _That_  was happening to Dan? _Now_?

He should definitely wake him, right? Before this went on any longer? Or would Dan just be completely, mortally embarrassed by that?

Dan started grinding against Phil in earnest, and being a perfectly healthy young man, Phil’s body responded naturally. It felt good, what Dan was doing, and Phil had never done anything like it before. With someone other than himself, anyway.

It made him feel pretty guilty, but Phil continued to lie back and let Dan do his thing against him, biting his lip as he did. He really wanted to buck his hips upwards, so that he and Dan could press harder against each other. He also wanted to flip them over completely, to press Dan into the ground and grind into him as hard and fast as he possibly could.

It was impossible not to respond to Dan in some way. His hips started moving with Dan’s soon enough, and it felt _incredible_. Phil never wanted it to end.

That is, until Dan gasped, his eyes flying open. His hips were still moving against Phil’s, left over from his sleep, but he was rapidly waking up. His eyes were foggy with confusion until they suddenly cleared, and then widened in horror. Dan’s face went bright red, and his hips stuttered to a stop. He opened his mouth, probably to attempt to say something, but before he could, Phil grinded up against Dan’s still hips. He couldn’t help it, it was just that it felt so much better than anything he’d ever felt before, and he wasn’t ready for it to end.

Dan choked at that, and Phil did it again, tentatively, unsure if Dan really wanted it. Dan pressed his face against Phil’s shoulder, his fingers clenched into Phil’s shirt and his arms still underneath his jacket as he grinded down into Phil again.

Phil let out a breath of relief, and they were grinding against each other again, both of them awake and their movements finally productive, faster and harder and better than before.

“Fuck,” Dan breathed into Phil’s shoulder, and Phil bucked into him harder in response. He slid his hand up under Dan’s shirt, so that his fingers were brushing warm, slightly sweaty skin. Dan whined quietly.

They moved faster and faster against each other, both of them panting into one another’s skin, getting closer and closer. It all happened rather quickly, with Dan suddenly stuttering against him, his fingers digging into Phil’s skin impossibly hard, as Dan let out little gasps directly into his ear. Phil followed right after that, and he grinded up into Dan hard, holding him tightly against himself, as pleasure thrummed through his body and his cock throbbed. 

Immediately after, Dan was sliding off his body and looking mortified. Phil sat up slowly, still feeling soft and sleepy from his orgasm, afraid Dan would run off like a skittish animal.

“Dan—” Phil started, but Dan just looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. 

“I’m just— I’m gonna…” Dan gestured over his shoulder, and with that he was standing and walking quickly (if awkwardly) into the forest. Phil sighed and walked off in another direction, hoping to clean himself up as best as possible. That was their tentative friendship ruined right there, Phil was sure.

—

Dan acted awkwardly around Phil for the entire rest of the day, which, if he wasn’t careful, was really going to blow their cover. Pj and Louise weren’t blind, and they were likely to notice that something was up if Dan stopped talking to Phil entirely.

And sure enough, after lunch Pj approached Phil carefully. “Are you and Dan fighting?” he asked quietly, taking a cautious glance over towards Dan, who was re-packing his bag. He seemed to like it organized.

“No,” Phil answered quickly, before fretting that he’d answered _too_  quickly, making it sound like he was lying.

“Okay,” Pj said slowly. “Just— if you two ever need to talk, or anything, I’m here.” And with that, Pj gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, before turning and walking back to Louise triumphantly. Phil had no doubts that they’d been trying to work up the courage to talk to him or Dan all morning.

—

Phil yawned, trying to fight against his exhaustion as his eyes threatened to slip shut. It was hard having to wake up in the middle of the night for his watch, but he definitely couldn't let himself fall asleep during it. Not when it was him that everyone was depending on.

They'd decided to switch up the order of their watches every night, so that none of them were constantly stuck with a certain shift. Phil was the third shift, both Pj and Louise already having stayed up for theirs. He only had to remain awake for another hour, and then he could go to sleep.

Still, as if staying awake in the middle of the night wasn't bad enough, with the shadows all around them scary and imposing, he also didn't have anything to distract him from his thoughts. They whirred along relentlessly, and Phil couldn't just _not_  think about something once he'd started. Like Dan.

Oh God, what they'd done that morning... it was obviously a mistake. Phil cringed even thinking about it now, the way Dan's eyes had widened afterwards, the way he'd avoided Phil for the rest of the day. He wouldn't even make eye contact with Phil, much less talk to him. This didn't do anything to help alleviate the looks Pj and Louise had been shooting them all day.

To add to all that, there was the fact that Phil had _liked_  what they'd done. He couldn't help it, really, not when the entire thing had felt so good. The way Dan's body had moved against his, fast and desperate, and the little noises he'd made in the back of his throat. Phil felt hot just thinking about it now, and he tried to think about something else, tried to distract himself.

He grabbed a handful of dirt, and he stared intently at it, trying to will a flower to grow in an attempt to get his mind off Dan. He could remember doing the same exact thing when he was little, glaring and holding his breath and _hoping_  so hard, expecting a flower to pop into existence at the sheer desire for it to be there. His father had always made it look so easy, just closing his his eyes and creating _life_ , as if it were as easy as bending a stupid rock.

For some reason, in that moment, it felt like everything depended on Phil’s ability to make a flower. If he could bend a flower, then the fire-making perpetrator would leave them alone. If he could bend a flower, the Fire Nation would stop looking for him and let him live his life in peace. If Phil could bend a flower, Dan would stop being mad at him. His father would show up, having not been taken and probably killed by the very soldiers who’d invaded Phil’s home.

He could remember all the flowers his father had made for him as a kid. Could remember feelings so special every time his father did it, every time he handed him a little blue flower, and smiled that smile that had his eyes crinkling in the corners.

“For you, Phil,” his father would say, and Phil would smile so big as he took the flower carefully between his fingers. “They’re magic, you know,” his father would add. And Phil _did_  know, of course he knew! How could he possibly forget, when his father said so every time he gave Phil a flower? But Phil played along. He always did.

“Magic?” he would say skeptically, grinning all the while.

“Oh yes,” his father would reply. And maybe it’d be late at night, and his dad would lay down next to him on his small bed with a huff, and he’d wrap an arm around Phil’s shoulders before reaching up and scruffing his hair. “Don’t you know that people give them out of love?”

Phil would giggle, and shove his father’s shoulder, before kissing him on the cheek.

“Love you too, dad,” he’d say, and his father would hug him real tight with that arm around his shoulders, before bidding him goodnight.

Phil _needed_  this flower to happen! He wanted everything to be okay, wanted his dad to be alive and safe, wanted him and his friends to not get attacked by crazy firebenders.

Phil glared at the dirt and hoped and _willed_  the flower into being…

And there was nothing. He let out an aggravated huff and threw the dirt, making it harden and turn into rocks as he did, simply to hear the satisfying thuds of the rocks hitting the ground.

He’d done such a good job distracting himself with trying to grow a flower (how long had he been trying, anyway? Ten minutes? Twenty?) that he hadn’t noticed Dan waking up. He was evidently awake though, seeing as he was no longer in his sleeping bag and was, instead, standing upright in the middle of their camp. Phil found it strange that Dan hadn’t acknowledged Phil at all, even if he _was_  currently doing his best to not interact with Phil.

"Dan?" Phil whispered, squinting at Dan in the darkness. He just looked like a shadow in this light, and if Phil hadn't known he was Dan, he would've been scared. "What are you doing?"

Dan didn't answer him. He simply stood there for a few seconds, and unease crawled up Phil’s spine. What was Dan doing? Why wouldn't he respond?

"Dan!" Phil whispered again, a bit louder this time. With no reply forthcoming for the second time, Phil stood up. He took a step closer to Dan, cautious. There was something wrong with Dan, some explanation as to why he was acting this way.

He was a mere three steps away when Dan took a step forward, towards where their campfire had been last night. His eyes were open, but they were completely unfocused, and his head lolled forward without the effort of holding it up."Are you asleep right now? Dan?"

Dan still didn't respond, but Phil was almost sure that he was right. Could Dan be sleepwalking? Doing all this without realizing?

"Hey, c'mon, let's go back to sleep," Phil said softly, and he reached out a hand and placed it lightly on Dan's shoulder. Dan shook it off. 

And then he held his left hand out in front of him, and bended fire.

Phil took a stumbling step back, his heart racing as the fire grew into a perfect little camp fire, one that had been haunting them all for days. _Dan_  was setting them? But he'd said he wasn't a firebender! So he lied to Phil? What else had he lied about?

And furthermore, if Dan was a firebender, and _wasn't_  actually withholding this information with the purpose of raising hell later on, then why hadn't he _used_  it? All those times that it's taken them forever to make a fire? Or when they were all freezing and needed some help warming up? Why wouldn't he firebend then?

Phil watched as Dan, after lighting the fire, returned to his sleeping back and laid back down. What should Phil _do_? Confront Dan, when he clearly didn't know he'd been doing it? Or just hide the fact that he'd been doing it, and help him keep his secret?

It all came down to trust. Did Phil trust him enough to think that Dan was harmless, that he was sleep-bending on accident? That he didn't intend to hurt Phil and Louise and Pj? Or was he just trying to keep his secret hidden so he could use it to hurt them all later and escape?

Phil bit his lip, thinking, and made his decision. Either because he was foolish or too trustful, he snuffed out the fire with a slab of rock, and went to wake Dan up.

“Dan,” he said, shaking Dan’s shoulder. Dan groaned into his sleeping bag, before rolling to his side and cracking open his eyes.

“Phil?” he murmured, his voice thick with sleep. He was bleary-eyed from just waking up, and for the first time since that morning Dan looked at him without cringing away and going red in the face.

“Hey,” Phil said. “It’s time to switch.”

Dan yawned widely before climbing out from sleeping bag and sitting cross legged near it. He shivered, but he smiled at Phil tentatively, as if he could actually face him and what they’d done together as long as it was in the darkness of night.

“You can go to sleep now,” Dan said, stifling another yawn with his hand. “I promise not to fall asleep.”

“You’ll fight off any bad guys?”

“I’ll wake you up and have you fight ‘em off,” Dan chuckled, before shoving Phil’s shoulder. “Sleep.” 

Phil rolled his eyes before taking off his jacket before tossing it to Dan. “So you don’t freeze to death,” he explained while climbing into the sleeping bag, still warm from Dan’s body heat. Dan slipped his arms into the jacket, though he didn’t move to go lean against a tree or anything, instead remaining sitting near Phil.

A few minutes passed, and Phil snuggled down in the bedding, closing his eyes and trying to sleep. “Hey Phil?” Dan said tentatively.

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t see anything? No… spirits? Or anything?”

Phil swallowed. “Nothing.”

“I hope it doesn’t come while I’m keeping watch,” Dan admitted, and Phil cracked open his eyes to see Dan anxiously twisting his hands.

“I don’t think it will,” Phil comforted, some kind of guilty conscious niggling in the back of his mind. “I doubt whatever it is will actually want to be seen.”

“That’s true,” Dan sighed, before laying down and resting his head on Phil’s stomach. “I’ll keep watch like this.”

“Okay,” Phil laughed, before closing his eyes again. “I’m sorry for what happened this morning.” Dan stiffened. “I just— I can tell that you weren’t comfortable with what happened, and I want us… to be friends.”

Dan was quiet for a while, before, “Kind of hard to be friends in our circumstance, though.”

Phil hummed. “Do you think we could’ve been friends? I mean if I hadn’t… you know.”

“What? Kidnapped me?” Dan snorted. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you’re from the Earth Kingdom. And I’m a Fire Nation soldier. There’s no way we could’ve been friends.”

“But what if our nations weren’t fighting?” Phil pestered.

“Then maybe. Best not to think about it, I suppose.”

“I think we can be friends,” Phil continued. “You _are_  laying on my stomach, after all.”

“That’s just because I’m desperate for a pillow. For all I know, you could decide to suffocate me with the earth at any second,” Dan responded. Phil glanced over at Pj and Louise, making sure the two were still asleep. He was aware of all the information they were so casually talking about, information that they’d been trying to keep to themselves. Thankfully their friends slept on.

“And for all I know you’re actually a firebender, only pretending not to be.”

Phil felt Dan stiffen, only the slightest amount, and he wouldn’t have noticed had he not been looking for it. “At least my suggestion was plausible,” Dan said, shaking his head.

“Mine isn’t?”

“Definitely not,” Dan said, so assuredly that Phil almost wanted to believe him. “I wouldn’t want to be a firebender even if I was one.”

“Really?” Phil asked, playing along. “The ability to control fire? I’ve always thought that was so cool. I would’ve been jealous of firebenders if they weren’t all so evil.”

“More like the ability to destroy,” Dan muttered, ignoring the rest of what he’d said. “You can create so many things with the Earth, but you can’t make anything with fire.”

“That’s true,” Phil conceded, wondering if Dan had actually been telling the truth. Maybe there was a reason he didn’t firebend. Maybe he was ashamed.

“Go to sleep,” Dan said, taking a moment to glance up at Phil. “I’ll keep the demons away.”

“That’s reassuring,” Phil muttered, but closed his eyes anyway.

—

Phil glanced at Dan as they all packed up their bags. He looked tired, but there was no denying the relieved look on his face. It was apparent that no “spirits” had come the night before. 

“Ready?” Pj called, glancing around the group and making sure all of their stuff had been packed away.

“I think so…” Louise muttered, also performing the usual final check, spinning on her heel to look for anything dropped. “Wait,” she said, taking a step towards the trees.

“What is it?” Dan asked, picking up his own bag and pulling it onto his shoulders. He noticed a thread hanging loose from the bottom of his shirt, and he frowned as he reached down to pick at it. He tugged at the thread, but instead of it snapping, it unraveled. Phil watched as he twisted the thread around and around his finger, trying to rip it out of his shirt.

Pj walked over to Louise, who was squinting into the forest in confusion. She took another step forward, before crouching down and examine the ground. “Are those….?” she whispered, leaning even closer to the ground.

Dan walked towards them, after triumphantly snapping the thread, and leaned over Pj’s shoulder to see whatever it was they were examining.

“Footprints?” Pj said, confusion coloring his voice.

Just then, someone grabbed Phil, yanking him backwards so hard that his neck cracked, before one of their hands fastened itself over his mouth, assuring that he couldn’t speak.

“Nobody move, or the earthbender eats fire!”


	9. Chapter 9

“Nobody move, or the earthbender eats fire!”

Dan’s hands were shaking, and he could feel the fear emanating off of Pj and Louise behind him. Phil looked pale, more so than usual, and Peter grinned maliciously from behind him. One of his arms was wrapped securely around Phil’s middle, the other pressed firmly over his mouth. Elijah and Jaxon stood on either side of Peter, and Elijah conjured fire, which he held before Phil’s face threateningly.

It was disconcerting that they knew Phil was an earthbender. It meant that they’d been close to Dan and his friends before, close enough to observe them when Phil was earthbending without them knowing. And the fact that they’d been so close to the camp this night, even when they’d been up keeping watch… How had they not noticed them? How could they have been so oblivious? And when had the soldiers been here, during whose shift? 

Before, Dan might have been almost glad to see the assholes, as long as it meant he’d be able to go back to where he belonged. But now… he wanted nothing more than to get away. A disconcertingly large part of him wanted to rush forward and save Phil, wanted even to reach inside himself and firebend if he had to. And why was that? They weren’t actually friends, they were just… acquaintances of some sort. Still, Dan couldn’t deny that he didn’t hate Phil anymore.

“What do you want?” Pj asked shakily. If they were lucky, the soldiers wouldn’t know that Pj was a waterbender. It was unlikely though, he bended much more often than Phil did. If the soldiers had really been watching them for so long, then they’d most likely know about Pj already.

“Give us Howell,” Peter demanded. “And we’ll let you two go free. 

“No way!” Louise said immediately, stepping forward. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, and Dan’s heart swelled. He hadn’t realized until now that this friendship was actually _real_. He realized that he cared for Pj and Louise, wanted them to be safe, wanted them to get away from the soldiers. And he cared about Phil too. Some part of Dan realized he had to get them to safety.

“We’ll destroy you all if we have to,” Elijah said cockily. The fire was so close to Phil’s face, there was no way it didn’t hurt. Dan had to do something, had to save Phil… 

Suddenly, the earth exploded underneath Phil. It went flying in every direction, and the firebenders screamed in confusion.

“Did you forget that I can bend the _earth_?” Phil scoffed, already running through the clearing dust. “Run!”

Surprisingly, he snatched Dan’s arm and yanked him as he ran past, and Dan stumbled into step beside him, glancing over his shoulder as they ran. Pj and Louise were running beside them, cursing as they ran through brambles and foliage. Peter’s face was one of rage, and he and his sidekicks charged angrily after them, yelling threats and other nonsense.

Plants caught at their ankles and cut into their skin, yet they kept running. They were pretty much out of tricks to get away. Phil couldn’t create a secret passage for them to run through fast enough to keep the firebenders out, and Pj didn’t have a big enough source of water to be able to cause any real damage.

“What do,” Louise panted, “we do?”

“Evade them for long enough to come up with a plan,” Pj said hopelessly. “Why are they so desperate to capture you two anyway? All for one earthbender?”

Phil exchanged a wary glance with Dan. “It might be a bit more complicated than that,” Phil allowed, just as a ball of fire skimmed his side and a tree beside them went up in flames.

And then everything started happening really fast. Dan was sure that they were going to be able to get away, they always seemed to come up with something, alway seemed to escape in the nick of time. But there was an outraged yell behind them, and Dan couldn’t resist glancing behind himself to look. Peter shoved his hand forward and fire exploded from the end of his palm, big and hot and heading directly for Phil. Dan shoved Phil forward with one hand and raised the other to the fire, absorbing some of the fire _into_  his body, while the rest encased him and burned like high hell. But Dan knew it would’ve hurt Phil so much more.

“Dan!” Phil screamed, and not just Phil, but Pj and Louise too. A fierce grip latched onto his arm and yanked him away from the frightened voices, smoke from the burning woods around them obscuring them from view.

“Run!” Dan managed to yell. “Guys, _run_!”

After that, something heavy clunked against his head, and Dan only had a moment to realize that he felt very, very hot, before everything went black.

—

Dan woke slowly, his head throbbing mercilessly. He wasn’t laying down though. He was hanging limply between two bodies, his arms slung around their necks. It probably helped that he was so short, so small and light.

“I don’t see why we should bother with this anyway,” someone grumbled. Jaxon. “It’s not like General Howell actually cares about him.”

“What? Do you want to be the one to tell him that you were too lazy to complete his mission?” Elijah scoffed.

“Shut up,” Peter grumbled from somewhere in front of them. “Don’t you two dolts realize he could wake up at any time?”

Dan was careful to keep his body limp, to continue to pretend to be well knocked-out. He could learn valuable information this way, and he was less likely to be tormented when he wasn’t going to react.

“Why care? It’s not like he’ll be able to escape us,” Jaxon retorted. Like hell, he wouldn’t be able to. Dan was sure that he’d be able to get away, he just had to think of something first. And even so, he doubted his friends wouldn’t already be trying to save him, even though he’d specifically told them to run. There was just a part of him that was sure they wouldn’t let him be taken so easily. Though another part of Dan, a significantly bigger part, hoped they had run away. He didn’t know what he would do if they got hurt because of him.

“That doesn’t change the fact that anything you say can be used against you,” Peter scoffed.

“What do you think the general wants with him?” Elijah asked a few minutes later. Dan’s arms ached from the way he was being carried, though he couldn’t do anything to adjust them, not without alerting the soldiers that he was awake.

“What does it matter?”

“I don’t know… But won’t he be mad that we didn’t get the earthbender as well?”

“From the state we left him in, I don’t think the General will care. He’ll probably be dead come morning.”

Dan couldn’t help it, he gasped. His mind raced with panic and fear. What had they done to Phil?

“Well, well, well,” said Elijah, and he and Jaxon stopped walking. “Looks like our reluctant firebender _is_ awake.”

Dan struggled against their grasp, desperate to get down, to get his feet on the ground. “Let me go,” he grunted, though both men held on tight.

Dan’s head ached, and he managed to look up and see Peter, who was standing in front of him and glaring magnificently. “Worried about your little earthbender friend, are you?” Peter sneered, and Dan leveled with his furious gaze. He didn’t feel very intimidating, however, not when he was being restrained, his feet hanging above the ground.

“What did you do to him?” Dan growled. He debated trying to kick Peter, though that would probably cause him more trouble than it was worth.

“He’s not just a friend, is he?” Peter said, a his lip curling up in a smirk. “He’s something _more_." Elijah and Jaxon laughed, and Dan felt his face flame.

“Fuck off.”

“I”m not sure Daddy will like that,” Peter said with a pout. “His one and only heir, off playing with cock.”

Dan was sure his entire body was red in embarrassment. Especially because even though he wasn’t actually dating Phil, he /was/ gay. And his father would, as a matter of fact, hate him for it. He’d probably threaten Dan with all sorts of punishments if he knew, and Dan wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“I'm not gay,” Dan muttered, swallowing thickly around the lie. Elijah imitated him in falsetto.

“Oh please,” Jaxon scoffed. “We saw your disgusting little display of affection the other day.” He started moaning all high pitched, gyrating against the air in front of him. Elijah joined in, and they both started cackling moments later. Dan struggled against their hold on him again, and they actually let go, letting him fall to the ground. His head throbbed as his feet hit the ground, and his arms tingled with his blood rushing back into them.

Dan stumbled away from them. If he could just escape… Though he didn’t know how long he had been out, didn’t know how far away they had traveled or in what direction, but if he could get away, then maybe he could find Phil again, could see if he was okay…

Peter took a threatening step forward, and then another. Dan backed away, again and again, until he was pressed up against a tree, Peter directly in front of him. “What are you?” he whispered.

“What?”

“You’re a gross queer. Now tell me, what are you?”

Dan swallowed, and shook his head. “I’m not.”

“What are you?” Peter repeated, except this time, his hand was aflame. It cast a deadly shadow on his face, and Dan shivered in fright. He didn’t answer.

Peter swung with his fist, aiming for Dan’s face, but Dan jumped out of the way. He scrambled around the tree and past it, straight up an incline. It was steep and dirt crumbled beneath his feet as he ran, but he kept running anyway, couldn’t stop. His blood was thrumming loudly in his ears and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he usually got in his dreams, where no matter how fast he ran, no matter how long, he would always get caught.

Dan didn’t bother glancing behind himself as he ran, he just kept looking forward, kept pumping his arms and moving his legs as fast as he could. He couldn’t miss the plants lighting on fire all around him, nor the occasional sting of fire actually making contact with his skin. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing except getting away, and then getting back to Phil.

“Get back here, fag!” someone yelled from behind Dan, which was immediately followed by laughter. Dan could really teach them a thing or two about having a good sense of humor.

He heard the rushing of water somewhere nearby, and Dan sprinted towards it, having hope that it could help him. At the very least, it would lessen the damage that the soldiers could do to him.

Thankfully, the river was large, and from the looks of it, deep as well. The water was swift, rushing past with impossible speed. Dan was running in the same direction as the current, his feet occasionally sliding on the slick mud.

“You can’t run for long, Howell!” Peter called matter-of-factly. And he was right, of course. Dan was already tiring.

But maybe he didn’t plan on running for very long, anyway. Maybe he didn’t even plan to escape. The only thing was that Dan had absolutely zero intention of seeing his father, much less dying at his hands. No, if Dan was going to die, or even come close to it, it would be entirely his own doing. His only hope was that he could actually outlive it, so that he might be able to save Phil.

—

Louise continued to trudge up the path, anxiety continuing to build in her chest. She had no idea what to do anymore, and she could barely think due to all the panic invading her brain. It seemed as if there were no way out of anything, as if every option available to her ended with a dead end. And how could it not, after all that had happened?

It was terrifying to think that the Fire Nation soldiers had been following them all this time. They could’ve cornered them at any moment, could’ve killed them in their sleep, and yet they hadn’t. They’d waited and waited until that very moment, and Louise had no idea why. To build the suspense? To grant them the mercy of a last few days together? It seemed unlikely.

She guessed it made sense though. It was obvious now that the soldiers had been setting the fires while they’d slept, as there was no other possible answer. It explained why there hadn’t been one the night before either, while they’d been keeping watch.

Still, what did it mean that they’d captured Dan now, when they’d been willing to kill him just two nights ago? He’d woken up encased in a blazing fire, was there really any way the soldiers thought he’d live through that? Or, after their failed attempts, had they finally decided to simply take Dan? So that they could torture and kill him at their own leisure?

Louise didn’t understand why they wouldn’t have taken him in the night, during his own watch. They certainly seemed strong enough, seemed capable enough. They’d so easily stocked their little group, had so easily cornered them. It’d made Louise wish, not for the first time, that she’d been born a bender. She would’ve been able to help fight them off, would’ve been able to protect Dan. To protect _Phil_.

God, after one of them had hit Dan on the head with the pommel of his sword, Dan dropping like a stone, they’d gone straight for Phil. They’d barely even minded Pj and her, as if they were hardly a nuisance to them.

No, they’d attacked Dan, and then they’d attacked Phil, three on one. One of them had grabbed Phil by the neck and thrown him to the ground, even while Pj and Louise had tried to get to him to help him. It’d been impossible though, fire surrounding them like a wall on all sides, and try as he might, Pj just couldn’t get enough water to put it out. The trees all around them had had barely any water to offer, thanks to the fires, and there certainly wasn’t enough to actually put any of them out. 

And so, Phil had been grabbed and thrown to the ground, with barely a whimper, and then fire had enveloped him. To be fair, it had almost been enveloping Louise and Pj as well, but they’d managed to get out sooner, thanks to Pj. Louise had then seen the firebenders running off, dragging Dan with them and leaving Phil to die in the fire. Louise had stared after them in horror, taking an unconscious Dan with them, and then back to Phil, still awake and trying desperately to find a way out of the inferno, his body beaten to a bloody pulp and getting absolutely cooked. Louise hadn’t even noticed them hitting Phil, not with everything else going on. 

“Get Phil!” Louise had cried. “Get him, oh God!"

PJ had complied, closing his eyes and concentrating fiercely. Louise would never know what it felt like, but it looked like it was hard, to put yourself that into your powers and to try to command so much of an element at once. Water had streamed in from every direction, and it’d put just enough of the fire out for Louise to dart into it and grab Phil before dragging him to safely. Pj had looked drained, and Louise had hoped that he’d still have enough energy left to save Phil. He’d looked horrid, so many parts of him so many different colors. He almost looked like a different person, and he hadn’t been moving much, either, just lying limply on the ground, the occasional groan escaping his lips.

And still, Dan was gone. Taken. Everything was so distorted, having had so much chaos happen all at once. Louise knew she had to do something, anything.

“Help Phil,” she’d said gravely, turning to Pj. “Help him and then rest. After that, go to the nearest town. I’ll find you again.”

Pj didn’t even have to ask to know what she was going to do, he just knew her that well. “Find him quickly,” he said, and Louise nodded, turning and running up the path.

The firebenders must have run for a while too, because even after running for ten minutes, she hadn’t caught hind nor tail of them. That’s when the shock of everything had actually started to set in, when the panic had started to build.

Louise’s heart was beating frantically as she desperately searched all around her, for probably the thousandth time. But this time, she saw scuff marks on the ground. She had to hold in a whoop of delight, and she examined her surrounding more carefully, followed where the scuff marks lead, getting wider apart. It looked as though someone had been running. Many someones, actually.

Dan had gotten away! If only he was still running now, perhaps Louise would be able to catch up to him, and they’d be able to get back to Pj and Phil safely. She followed the trail of footprints as best she could, bursting into a run as she did, hoping and praying that Dan wasn’t hurt. Only a minute or two later she heard them, jeering and yelling. Louise followed their voices, running faster, faster, as fast her stupid legs could go.

Louise burst out of the trees and onto a river bank, which although disorienting, she didn’t allow to slow her. She just kept running, despite her feet slipping in the mud, thundering after Dan. She was so close now, she could tell! She rounded a bend of the river, and she could see them, could see Dan a little ways ahead of them, still just barely evading them.

“Get back here!” one of the lumbering idiots yelled, and Louise saw Dan’s resolve harden, saw him run just a little bit faster, right towards a—

Oh fucking God.

“Dan!” Louise screamed in terror. “Dan! Don’t jump!”

But it was too late. Dan took a running leap off the side of the cliff, right towards the thundering mist of the waterfall. She screamed as his feet left the ground, and Louise swore, for a moment, they made eye contact, and that Dan’s eyes widened in recognition. And then Dan’s body collided with the water plummeting what seemed like hundreds of miles a second, and he was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Phil struggled upward, fighting against Pj’s placating hands. “Dan!” he gasped, wrenching his eyes open. His entire body ached, feeling as if it’d been melted completely off his bones. He felt feverish, and his heart was pounding so hard it hurt, despite the fact that he’d been laying down for God knew how long.

“Shh, Phil,” Pj said, gently pushing Phil back against the ground. He looked as anxious as Phil felt, but at least he was managing to hold himself together.

“They took Dan,” Phil managed, looking at his friend beseechingly. Maybe he was wrong, maybe it was all some fever-cooked dream, and Dan was standing just beyond his line of sight, or perhaps behind a tree somewhere.

“He’ll be okay,” Pj answered, which was not the answer Phil wanted at _all_. “Louise has gone after him, and he’s resourceful enough on his own. He’ll get away.”

Phil wasn’t so sure. It’d been all too easy for _him_  to kidnap Dan, though he couldn’t just say that to Pj. But Dan was in real danger, meanwhile Pj was wasting valuable resources by sitting here with Phil. He should be chasing after Dan! At least he could bend, could fight back against those firebenders. Louise was just at risk, she had nothing but her wits to use against them.

“Go after him,” Phil said weakly. Every word he said grated inside him, and Phil felt inclined to never speak again. Except that he had to get his point across to Pj, had to get him to go save Dan.

“I can’t,” Pj whispered. “You’ll die without me.”

It was then that Phil noticed the fact that he was currently lying down in a river, which didn’t make any sense. If he was in a river, then why did he still feel so hot? Pj’s hands were hovering over Phil’s chest, and Pj almost looked sick with exhaustion. Was he really keeping Phil alive? What would happen if he passed out from exhaustion? Phil felt like he couldn’t bend a pebble, much less a rock large enough to transport Pj if he conked out. And Phil certainly wouldn’t be any help if he were dead as well.

Phil opened his mouth to continue arguing, perhaps that it might still be more important to go after Dan (and when had Phil started caring about him so much, anyway?), but his eyes slipped closed due to exhaustion, and he felt his head loll to the side.

—

Pj bit his lip weakly, honestly relieved that Phil was lapsing back into sleep. Talking to him took too much effort, too much energy, and Pj needed every drop he could spare right now. He was seated in the river, the water well-soaked through his clothes. Normally this helped him to feel energized, but all he could really feel was heavy and tired.

It’d been much too draining to suck the water out of all those plants, and horribly, he’d been the cause of many of their deaths as well—now brittle and dry. It’d been necessary to put out the fire, however, enough so that they could save Phil. Now his hands shook as he held them over Phil’s chest, using the water in Phil’s body to help regulate his temperature as well as using the water outside of him to try to heal his injuries. He’d been severely burned, and though his skin no longer bore those marks, it was harder to heal what was deeper inside. Pj feared that his muscle, perhaps even his bone, had been burned. Even worse, he wasn’t sure that he’d have enough energy to heal him, if that was so.

It wasn’t long before Pj realized he wouldn’t be able to make it if he had to continue like this on his own. Neither he nor Phil would outlive this accident without help. Pj managed to stand on shaky legs, and he used the water in the river to carry Phil’s body, simply pushing it carefully downstream. Pj knew there was a town somewhere close by along the stream, a city that he’d been subconsciously leading his friends to for a while now. There was an underground network of rebels in the city, and Pj knew there’d be waterbenders in the group, hopefully ones experienced with healing.

It was hard work, forcing his muscles to hold himself up and to carry him down the river. Pj didn’t even bother stepping onto the bank for easier footing, knowing that he needed every ounce of energy the water could give him. He walked slowly, though it’d probably be more beneficial for him to speed up. He couldn’t help it though, he was afraid that if he fell he wouldn’t be able to get back up. Plus, while part of his energy was being expended with walking and another part with getting the river to carry Phil, he was still using the water to monitor Phil’s health, to keep him alive.

It took nearly a half hour, a half hour that felt like it’d come close to killing him, but finally Pj could see the city. He forced himself to continue on, forced himself for Phil, for Dan.

Thankfully, Pj knew Carrie, and knew her well. They’d met years ago, had even lived in this very city for a while together. They’d bunked in the same room, and it’d been with her that Pj had first started exploring the healing techniques of waterbending. She had been the one to introduce him to Louise as well.

Louise had come into the city running, frantically looking behind her as she’d hastily darted down streets. She’d run directly into Carrie, and after a panicked introduction, Carrie had been dragging Louise into one of the rebellion’s buildings, the one where she and Pj and a few others slept.

The door had burst open when Pj had been sitting on his bunk, practicing his waterbending. He’d been so frightened that he’d dropped the water all over his lap, which he’d quickly summoned back into the air, realizing that it looked like he’d wet himself.

“Hide!” Carrie had whispered, and Louise had glanced around the barren room frantically, before spotting Pj and climbing into his bunk without invitation. She’d huddled behind him under his blankets while Pj had sat in confusion. They’d been best friends ever since.

It’d turned out that Fire Nation soldiers had been chasing Louise after she’d stopped them from taunting a small waterbender child a little ways outside of town, and they’d wanted revenge. They led her straight to the rebellion, however, and she joined immediately.

Pj still remembered Carrie vividly despite the years that had passed in his travels, and he knew that Carrie would drop everything to help him. Using the last of his remaining strength, Pj used the water beneath Phil to carry him into the town through a side entrance, which was conveniently the closest one to the old bunks he and Carrie had used to inhabit. He could only hope that the rebellion still lived there and hadn’t moved to some other area of the city, or to some other city entirely. 

Pj barged into the little building he recognized, water sloshing down onto his feet as he momentarily lost control. He noticed a few people in the room, all of whom started talking and rushing towards him. Pj just had the presence of mind to set Phil onto the ground carefully before he collapsed beside him.

“Pj?” someone said incredulously, who’s voice Pj vaguely recognized as possibly belonging to Carrie, though he couldn’t really concentrate enough to be sure.

“Heal him,” Pj managed to say, before the image of the floor beneath him erupted with black spots, which grew and converged until he could see nothing at all. 

— 

Phil came to slowly, his body throbbing with pain. He peeled his eyes open, his lids feeling impossibly heavy, and squinted around himself. It all came rushing back.

He remembered the firebenders coming, remembered them burning him. And taking Dan. He tried to sit up but gentle hands pushed him back down, and Phil realized that once again, he was laying in water. He finally took the chance to look around, and he realized that not only was he inside an actual building, laying in an actual _tub_ , but that Pj wasn’t the one holding him down. It was two unfamiliar women, and Phil’s anxiety spiked, wondering what had happened, wondering where he was. Hadn’t Pj said Phil would die if he stopped healing him? Was Pj okay? 

Phil tried to scoot away from the two women beside him, because while they looked kind and concerned, looks could be deceiving.

“Lay back,” the one on his right said gently. She had a mess of frizzy curls tied up into a bun atop her head, and he realized that her hands were hovering over the water, making it glow— healing him.

“Where’s Pj?” he demanded, his words feeling like fire in his throat. And just like that, his priorities shifted. Save Pj and then save Dan, and make sure Louise was safe with Dan as well. He couldn’t deny how close he’d grown to his new friends on their adventure together, and something deep inside of him ached at the thought of any of them in danger. 

“Healing,” the same girl answered simply. Phil looked around frantically for the familiar curls of his friend’s head. A part of him panicked when he didn’t see Pj sitting near the other glowing tub, healing its occupant. It was a moment until Phil realized Pj _was_  the occupant, which in turn caused him even more panic.

“What’s wrong with him?” Phil asked anxiously. Pj wasn’t conscious, but he didn’t appear to be in mortal danger either. The waterbenders around his tub were chatting idly, which led Phil to believe that Pj’s healing wasn’t too extensive, that he was going to be just fine.

“He exhausted himself. Saving you, I presume,” the girl said with a raised eyebrow. Phil nodded slowly, gratitude for his friend filling his chest. To think that he was so loved, so cared for…

“Will he wake up soon?” Phil questioned.

“He should, yes. But he’ll be in no condition to travel, and neither will you. Whatever battles you’ve been fighting, they’ll have to wait.” The girl’s tone took on a professional sounding one, like an actual medical healer. Phil frowned.

“It can’t wait,” he insisted. “Our friend’s been kidnapped.” 

The waterbender’s eyes widened, and she looked to her companion, still silent on the other side of Phil’s tub, worriedly. “You and Pj both are likely to collapse from exhaustion before getting to your friend, and even if you do make it, you won’t be much help in the half-dead state you’ll be in. You’d be more helpful to your friend if you waited until you reach your full strength, when you’ll be much more efficient at rescuing him,” the healer explained.

Phil bit his lip, knowing she was right. What he also knew, however, was that he wasn’t going to listen to her anyway. There simply wasn’t any time to wait. Dan was being taken away, and if Phil had to wager a guess, he’d bet he was being taken to his father. And who knew if Dan wouldn’t be harmed? What if that was exactly what his father intended? What if Phil was too late?

“You’re right,” Phil lied, appeasing the healer. She nodded, pleased, and fell silent, concentrating again on healing Phil. He already felt tons better than he had back in the forest with Pj. Before, his entire body had felt like putty, and he’d thought he might melt to the ground, he was so hot. Now, in the cool water of the tub, Phil felt mostly fine besides the steady throbbing in his head and the gentle soreness in his muscles.

He looked up to examine the room, which suddenly made him realize that it was quite full. There were bunk beds pushed up against every wall, and people of all ages sat atop them. A few stared at Phil curiously, and it was then that Phil became aware of the fact that he was laying in the glowing tub with only his underwear on. It made sense, anyway, that the healers would need him mostly naked so they could see his wounds easier, and so that his clothes couldn’t get in the way. Still, he felt a bit self-conscious knowing there were a few pairs of eyes on him.

“I’m Carrie,” the healer finally offered, glancing up at Phil with a smile. It felt like an invitation.

“I’m Phil,” Phil answered, smiling back.

A groan sounded from Pj’s tub, and both Phil and Carrie looked over as Pj shifted, the water sloshing around him as he did so. He didn’t make any noise after that, however, and Carrie turned back to Phil with a grin. 

“I can’t wait for him to wake up,” she admitted, “I haven’t seen him in years.” 

Phil’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know him?”

Carrie nodded. “We lived here, together, a few years back.” Carrie didn’t elaborate after that, and Phil couldn’t help but wonder why. Perhaps it was personal? Or maybe she didn’t want Phil to know that he was being harbored in a rebel building. It was impossible not to realize, however, with all the tough, haggard looking children and teens gathered in the room, all determined looking. Of course, maybe it just wasn’t her story to tell.

Miraculously, they were done healing both him and Pj not long after his and Carrie’s conversation. They helped Phil out of the water, his legs shaky underneath him and practically his entire body pruned, and helped him dress in clean, dry clothes. They decided to leave Pj in the tub, knowing that water had healing properties of its own for waterbenders, and that it could actually be comforting for Pj to wake up submerged in it. Phil thanked the waterbenders for saving his and Pj’s lives even as they insisted it was nothing, Carrie even giving him a friendly hug in response.

It was dark by the time all that had happened, and Phil let them lead him to an unoccupied bunk, which they laid him on before instructing him to rest. 

“Rest is the most important part of healing,” Carrie insisted. “Sleep does its own little miracles on the body.” Phil nodded and thanked them once again, before laying on his side and pretending to sleep. 

Most everyone curled up in their beds then, prepared to sleep, though a few tiptoed out past all the sleeping bodies, possibly doing some kind of night mission. Just like Phil.

Once he was sure everyone was well and truly asleep, Phil eased himself out of bed and quietly crossed towards the door. He moved his feet slowly on the floor, careful not to let any of the wooden floorboards creak underneath him. His body felt stiff and heavy, but Phil managed to convince himself that he’d limber up as he started walking. He just had to find his way back to the forest, at which point he could start tracking Dan. Pj would understand Phil leaving him, knowing that he was in safe hands. He just couldn’t risk waiting to save Dan any longer.

Outside of the small building, Phil picked a random direction and started walking. After a while, however, it became apparent that the buildings were getting bigger and more extravagant closer towards the center of town, so Phil turned around and retraced his steps. By the time he made it to the edge of town, he was exhausted all over again, though that wasn’t any excuse. He had a friend to save.

Phil made it to the river and paused to wonder which direction it had been flowing in when Pj had been healing him earlier (and in extension, which direction Phil had to head in now). He’d just decided that Pj must have carried him downstream when a hand clamped over his mouth. It gave Phil deja vu, except for the fact that his friends weren’t around to get threatened this time. And how was he so easy to sneak up on, anyway?

“You try earthbending and you’ll find out just how quickly the skin can melt from your body,” a voice hissed in his ear. Phil recognized it at Peter, the one who’d been so rude to Dan the very first time Phil had seen him. Knowing he was defeated, Phil simply nodded in acceptance. Besides, just the thought of commanding the earth with his will… Well, it made Phil feel heavy and achey all over again. 

Phil sighed heavily through his nose as he was shoved upstream, back in the direction he and Pj had come from. With any luck, the firebenders would just be leading him back to wherever they’d taken Dan to, and from there he and Dan could figure out how to escape together. And so Phil cooperated, he played along as the exhausted, defeated earthbender (which wasn’t so hard, really) and let the firebenders push and shove him. They talked in muffled whispers, none of what they said loud enough for Phil to hear. He didn’t care. They were leading him straight back to Dan, and that was all that mattered.

—

Louise stiffed yet another sob as she picked her way across the sharp rocks on the bank at the base of the waterfall. They were slick with mist from the falling water, and Louise nearly lost her footing for possibly the thousandth time.

“ _Dan_!” she screamed, her throat raw. She’d lost count of how many times she’d called his name. It’d taken her what felt like forever to get from the top of the waterfall to the bottom, at which point she had no idea of where Dan might’ve gone. He wasn’t impaled on any of the sharp rocks anyway, and while that should’ve given Louise hope, she couldn’t help staring at the dangerous-looking, thundering waterfall beside her. “ _Dan_!”

The firebenders had disappeared, at least, which was the only good thing. If only Pj were here, he’d be able to use his waterbending to find Dan somehow, Louise was sure of it.

She would find him. She had to find him, because if she didn’t… God, she wouldn’t even let herself think of it. She _had_  to find him. “ _Dan_!”


	11. Chapter 11

Dan coughed, the movement aching in his chest. His entire body ached, actually, and he wanted to curl further into himself to ease the pain. He felt like he couldn't move though, felt like he couldn't even open his eyes.

He concentrated on breathing, forcing the air in and out of his lungs painfully. He could hear his breath rasping through his mouth. It took him a little while to realize he was soaking wet, that part of his body was submerged in cold water. Part of him wanted to get away from the water, to curl up on dry ground and conserve his body heat, but a much bigger part of him hurt too much to try. He was probably going to die here, and nobody would ever know. No one except for those stupid soldiers, who'd wasted so much of their time tormenting Dan, who’d hated him so much they couldn't even leave him be once he was gone. 

He didn't know how the fall hadn't killed him, how the tumultuous water hadn't ripped him to shreds, or at least made him drown. Why had he wanted to live, again?

Dan's eyes flew open as he suddenly remembered Phil, who was severely hurt by the time Dan was kidnapped. He could remember seeing Phil, encased in fire and screaming in pain. A violent shiver shot through Dan, fear of fire and dread for Phil. How could he possibly be okay after that? Unless Pj had managed to heal him somehow... 

The thought of Phil, hurt and in danger somewhere, made a sharp, violent pang throb in Dan's chest, as if he didn't already have enough pain in his body. He had to find Phil, had to make sure he was okay.

Dan managed to open his eyes, ignoring their protesting at the light, and struggled to pull himself out of the water. His entire body complained as he began to move, and he thanked the gods that he'd somehow managed not to break any bones. He didn't know how he was supposed to find his way back to Phil and Pj, but he decided he would start by finding the closest town, before figuring out where they would've gone from there.

Dan had just managed to get to his feet, already wanting to sit back down and remain immobile, when he remembered Louise. Hadn't she been there when he'd jumped off the waterfall, screaming his name? Or had that just been a hallucination, something Dan had made up in what he thought would be his last moments? 

He gripped onto a tree near him and carefully took a step. And then he heard something, faint and far away, but...

"Dan!" someone yelled, their voice far off but definitely _there_.

"Louise," he tried to yell, but it came out as a broken croak of a whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Louise!"

Dan started off in the direction Louise's voice had come from, stumbling and struggling to walk, but managing to at least get closer to her, and maybe closer to Phil.

"Dan!"

Dan whistled as loud as he could in response, his throat too sore to keep shouting.

"Dan?"

Dan whistled again, and he and Louise continued to traipse through the woods towards each other. Dan couldn't help being slow going, but he could hear Louise getting closer and closer, until he could see her through the trees and she practically sobbed in relief.

"Oh thank the gods," she said and sprinted the rest of the way to Dan. She pulled Dan into her arms and hugged him close, and even though it hurt Dan's sore body, he was grateful for it. He hadn't realized how in need of a hug he'd been.

"Is Phil okay?" Dan croaked, after Louise had finally let go of him and taken a step back, though she'd kept her hold on his arms, as if he might fall. Dan was thankful for that too, as he was feeling a bit woozy.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Louise countered. "You look like you've been run over by an air bison. Have you broken anything?"

"I'm fine," Dan insisted. "But Phil?"

"I left him with Pj's, he'll be fine," Louise insisted, and Dan nodded thankfully. Phil was fine. He just had to find him now.

"Do you know how to get back to them?" Dan asked, and Louise shook her head exasperatedly.

"No, but I know how to get to the town Pj will surely take him to," she said. "But you shouldn't walk that far, you need rest."

"What I need is to make sure Phil's okay," Dan said, before nodding his head at Louise. "Lead the way."

\--

Dan had long since started wondering how much he actually cared about Phil. It was just that it felt like he was dragging his own carcass through the woods, and the stitch in his side that had started almost an hour ago now felt like a knife, stabbing further into him with every breath he took.

"Maybe we should take a break," Louise suggested for maybe the hundredth time. Dan was tempted to say yes, _really_  tempted, but then he thought of Phil again, hurt and screaming and trapped in a ring of fire. Plus, he couldn't help knowing that Phil wouldn't stop if it were Dan, that Phil was probably as worried sick about him right now, thinking Dan had actually been kidnapped.

“No,” Dan said firmly, doing his best to keep his mind off the various kinds of pain in his body. He would live, he knew that, but Phil… Well, Louise sounded pretty sure about Pj’s abilities, but Dan wasn’t willing to believe anything until he saw it for himself. “Besides, we’re almost there, aren’t we?”

“Less than an hour’s walk, I think.”

Their entire journey was made all the harder by the fact that neither of them had any of their supplies. When Louise had gone chasing after him, she obviously hadn’t stopped to grab her bag first. So it had been a long while since the both of them last ate, and the only thing they’d had to drink was the river water, which thankfully apparently led to the very town they were traveling to. As long as they stayed beside it they would find their way eventually.

And they did. It was a gruesome hike but Dan practically felt better already, having the small town in his sights, knowing Phil was likely just beyond those walls. He doubted he and Pj would’ve stayed in the woods, though if the two weren’t there Dan and Louise would have to backtrack to their old camping sight and track them from there.

“How are we going to find them? They could be anywhere in the town,” Dan said, as they finally parted from the river and trekked directly towards the town. It looked pretty peaceful and quiet, which Dan suspected was just what he needed. He was hoping that he looked too banged up and dirty to be recognized as General Howell’s son, as he definitely didn’t need to be chased by firebenders again.

“I know a place,” Louise said knowingly, and Dan decided to just not question her. It was obvious that she’d been here before, possibly even had history here. That simply made it all the better for Dan, that Louise would know her way around, possibly know the nooks and crannies of the town. Maybe she could find them a small inn to sleep in without being discovered, once they are all reunited again.

Louise led them to a side entrance of the town before navigating the streets without hesitation, confirming Dan’s guess that she was familiar with this place. Dan was glad that this journey would soon be coming to an end, as his body ached much more fiercely than it originally had when he’d woken up in the river. He still felt cold from the damp clothing clinging to his skin, yet to dry despite his hours spent in the sun. He hoped that they could all bargain or steal some new clothes once they were rested enough, as his were fairly torn up from jumping into the waterfall.

They approached a small line of buildings, Louise walking confidently towards one. They paused when they heard the yelling.

“You have to let me go!” someone pleaded, someone who sounded suspiciously like Pj.

“You’ll do no good!” someone else, this was foreign to Dan, argued. “You can’t fight them all on your own, and what will you do if your other friends show up and you’re not here?”

A spike of fear dug into Dan’s stomach, telling him that there was something not quite right. Then he realized Pj was crying.

“I can’t just not go after him,” he said, and Louise exchanged a worried look with Dan before they advanced towards the small house and threw open the door. Dan had to take a moment absorb it all, the whole time subconsciously looking for Phil.

“Pj, what’s wrong?” Louise demanded, skipping greetings entirely. Pj looked at them for a moment, astonished, his expression flickering between relieved and worried. It finally settled on worried.

“The firebenders followed me and Phil here. They took him last night!”

“How do you know?”

The girl, whom Pj had been arguing with, answered for him. He seemed too shaken to answer anyway. “He was gone this morning, and yesterday he was saying that we had to go out and look for you two. We tracked him and found his footprints as well as three others by the river. Three sets of footprints came to the river, and four left.”

Dan’s mouth dropped open in astonishment and panic. They’d gone through all that only for Phil to be kidnapped in the end? How was that fair? How was any of it fair?

“We have to go after him,” Dan said immediately, at which Pj nodded vigorously. If they had already tracked their movements into the forest, Dan was sure they could continue to track them through it. They could simply follow the soldiers, find out where they were keeping Phil, and devise a plan to save him. Dan wouldn’t let Phil be taken. His chest ached with the thought of Phil out there—alone. He just wanted to save Phil already, to grab him and hold him and never let him get hurt again.

“Are you crazy?” the girl barked, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at Dan.

“Carrie—” Pj argued.

“No!” she spat. “Look at him!” she shouted, pointing to Dan. Embarrassingly enough, everyone in the small cabin, which was quite a lot of people, now that Dan noticed, turned to look at him. “He’s dead on his feet. I don’t know what he’s been through, but there’s absolutely no way he’s in good shape to travel. He needs to eat and heal and rest, as do all of you. You’ll be of no use to Phil in the shape you’re in.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Dan glared, and Carrie laughed. Dan squinted at her uncertainty.

“Sorry, it’s just Phil tried to convince me of the same thing so that he could go save you.”

“All the more reason for us to go,” Dan said.

Carrie rolled her eyes at him, and without further argument, marched forward and grabbed his arm. Dan winced at the pressure against his body, which the girl noted with a raised eyebrow, before she shoved him towards a tub full of water. She immediately stripped Dan’s shirt over his head.

“Woah!” Dan protested, stumbling backwards, but he ran directly into another girl, who went about taking his trousers off him. Dan struggled against them, both of whom seemed completely unbothered by him, before they lifted him (not such a feat, considering his size) and plopped him into the tub full of water, which was mercifully warm. “What are you doing?” he demanded, trying to climb out of the tub only to be shoved back in, though gently.

“Healing you,” Carrie answered. “Zoe? Mind getting me a towel?” Zoe nodded silently and padded across the room to retrieve one, before returning. They set to work at the same time, their hands raised over the water as if prepared to manipulate it. Waterbenders, then. The second the water began to glow, relief flowed through Dan’s body, pain he hadn’t even been registering anymore disappearing. It felt so wonderful to be free of the pain that he even whimpered in response, at which Carrie and Zoe exchanged smirks. The towel was draped across his forehead, steam emitting from it.

It didn’t go on for very long, although afterwards they shoved a clean pair of clothes into his hand (Dan was starting to like them a little bit more, even if they were delaying his rescue of Phil), before herding him towards a bed. “I really can’t sleep,” Dan insisted. “Thank you for healing me, and thank you for the clothes, but we can’t wait to save Phil any longer. Anything could be happening to him…”

“He would’ve been able to fight back against the firebenders if he’d simply stayed and rested,” Carrie said, all the while shaking her head at Dan. “I won’t let the same happen to you.”

Dan looked desperately towards Pj and Louise, but they weren’t looking at Dan. Their heads were bent towards each other as they conversed quietly, serious expressions on their faces. Dan hoped they were planning an escape, planning to get out without any of the watchful eyes seeing them.

He let himself be put into bed, if only because it seemed like there was nothing he could do about it. Carrie even pulled the blanket all the way up to his ears, though Dan tugged it down to his chin the second she turned around. It’s been too long since he’d last lain in a bed, and while he felt like he could easily drift into sleep, he wasn’t going to let himself. He wouldn’t rest until Phil was safely by his side once again and they were miles away from any meddlesome firebenders.

It took a while before they had a chance to leave, though Dan was glad they were all on the same page. It was when the majority of people in the room had left to venture through town or climbed into their beds to take naps that they’d made their move. They’d instantly looked towards each other before nodding in confirmation and climbing out of their assigned beds, tiptoeing through the building. Once outside of it and many paces away, they tucked themselves into the mouth of an alley to converse quietly.

“We won’t be able to catch up to Phil fast enough on foot,” Dan said immediately, having been thinking about it all day long. It was all he’d been able to do, strategize and plan and think about what he would do when he finally caught up to Peter. His current plans were to remove the soldier’s intestines and shove them back down his throat, though a strong contender was to throw him off a waterfall and see how well he’d fare.

“I know, and I have a plan,” Pj said.

—

“I’m not so sure about your plan, Peej,” Dan said cautiously, as he edged even closer to the ostrich-horse, it’s beak looking especially pointy. The ostrich-horse snorted at him, its eyes beady and glaring. Pj had already approached his own mount, which seemed considerably kinder, and he'd managed to saddle it too. Louise had had similar luck, though it’d taken a bit longer for the animal to warm up to her.

“Just look approachable,” Pj advised, and Dan shifted his glare from the animal to his friend.

“Why don’t we trade then?”

“This one already trusts me,” Pj said, and Dan scoffed before taking another step closer to the creature. It whinnied and backed away.

“Please,” Dan begged. “We have to save my friend.”

As if it had actually understood him, the ostrich-horse finally let Dan get close, and he stroked it carefully before retrieving its saddle and strapping it in.

“I feel bad for stealing these,” Louise admitted, already sitting atop hers, ready to go. Dan felt bad too, but he knew it was necessary. He would do anything to save Phil.

“We’ll return them,” Pj said confidently. “We’ll come back here when we have Phil and sneak them back in.”

They had to wait until nightfall to actually leave the town, as stealing the animals in broad daylight would be much too obvious. They would get caught much too easily. Still, having to wait around in the stables was anxiety inducing, seeing as the more time passed, the more likely it was that Carrie had returned to find them missing. Dan hoped she wasn’t looking for them. He also hoped she wouldn't worry about them.

When it was finally dark enough, the three set off into the night, newly stolen supplies tucked away in newly stolen bags, seeing as all their old things were lost in the woods somewhere, possibly burned to a crisp. They made it out of town easily enough and set to finding the tracks they were looking for. It wasn’t too hard in the end, as the group had caught Phil at the edge of the river and continued to travel alongside it, where the ground was soft and easily impressionable. They picked up their tracks fairly easily and concentrated on not losing them as they moved carefully through the forest, back toward where they’d originally been camping. Back towards where the soldiers had been trying to take Dan.

They traveled mostly in silence, too worried for their friend to talk. Dan was grateful that at least the majority of the group was together now. He didn’t fancy their chances of finding one another after they’d all be separated, even though Louise had somehow managed to do it with Pj.

Overall, he just couldn’t wait until they found Phil. Dan wasn’t going to ever let him out of his sights again. And they would learn to be more careful about their watches, they wouldn’t let themselves get ambushed again. They'd make as many changes as possible to keep their group safe.

And even though Dan had originally abhorred it, more than anything, he just wanted to fall asleep by Phil’s side again.


	12. Chapter 12

“You know,” Phil said conversationally, “you’re really the least hospitable people I’ve ever met.” He was sweating an obnoxious amount, probably thanks to the fire constantly swirling around him. The firebenders insisted on it, saying that if Phil so much as moved a pebble he’d be burned to a crisp.

He believed them, anyway. Or at least, he was terrified enough of their fire to do whatever they said. He didn’t plan to have to endure the burn of their fire ever again. Even thinking back to it, being trapped in between burning trees, his skin feeling like it might melt from his body… Phil shuddered at the thought, flinching as the fire grew closer to him. One of the soldiers, Elijah, Phil thought his name was, laughed.

“Oh, are we?” Jaxon, standing on his other side, hummed. He looked positively predatory, through the flicker of the flames in between them, anyway.

“Don’t engage him,” Peter said flatly. Phil rolled his eyes. They’d barely made any progress because of the way Peter was forcing them to travel, the fire they were all constantly concentrating on halting their progress, making them move slowly. Not that Phil actually minded, as it was hopefully giving Pj behind him a good chance to catch up. Soon Phil would be led straight to Dan, and together they’d break out and from there backtrack for Pj and Louise.

Phil just hoped Dan was still okay, that he was safe and unharmed. He didn’t know what he would do if he found Dan and he was anything less than perfectly okay. Phil might shove the earth through the firebenders’ hearts, even if they managed to burn him for it. He would do anything for Dan, which was almost disconcerting. When had he started to feel this strongly for Dan, anyway?

He couldn’t remember when it’d started, only that he’d realized it once Dan was in danger. And if Dan was hurt… it’d be all Phil’s fault. None of this ever would’ve happened to Dan if Phil hadn’t decided to kidnap him. He hated thinking about it, especially as part of him had started to suspect Dan wasn’t so cross about it anymore.

“Do you guys have any water?” Phil asked petulantly. He honestly wasn’t quite sure if his ceaseless pestering was simply to annoy them or something worse. Perhaps they’d get so annoyed with him that they’d cast him aside, and from there he could trail them and be in perfectly good condition when he finally found Dan. “It’s only, I’m pretty thirsty in here. You know, being cooked alive really makes a man thirsty!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Jaxon muttered. He was clearly the weak link, the one Phil could count on to annoy the most easily. 

“What are you gonna do if I die of thirst before we even get there?” Phil pondered aloud. “What would your boss have to say about that?”

Jaxon bit his lip, though he looked visibly annoyed. Phil continued on. “Hey Jaxon,” he said, and Jaxon flinched in surprise. “I’m thirsty.”

“Suck it up,” Jaxon hissed.

“Stop talking to him,” Elijah instructed. Jaxon nodded tightly, his eyes narrowed. He glared at the path ahead of them as they walked. Phil felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead. Down, down, down, the side of his face, until it dangled from his chin. He wiped it away.

“Hey Jaxon,” Phil tried again. He could see Jaxon grit his teeth, and next to him, the fire flickered. So this really was affecting him, then? Phil weighed the chances of him getting burned, and whether it would be worth it, before he gathered spit in his mouth and spit it through the fire.

It landed on Jaxon’s cheek.

The fire beside Phil immediately disappeared, though Phil didn't try to escape, not when he wouldn’t really have a chance, when the soldiers would likely be able to get him even if he started to run. Jaxon stood stock still, his face enraged, fury flickering through his eyes. Phil just stuck his hands in the pocket of his tunic, smirking at the other man.

Very slowly, and very deliberately, Jaxon turned to face Phil. “You’ll pay for that, earthbender,” he hissed. He reached up to wipe Phil’s spit from his cheek, and though fear flickered in the pit of his stomach, Phil winked at him. He’d already gotten himself into deep shit, what more could a wink do?

“Oh no he won’t,” Peter broke in, taking a step back and glaring at Jaxon, before shifting the look to Phil. “We have orders to bring him back alive.” 

“He’ll be alive,” Jaxon said. “Barely.” 

Peter simply rolled his eyes. “Calm the fuck down. He can tell that he’s getting to you. Stop being weak.” With that, and an exaggerated wave from his hand, the fire was back, taller this time, hotter. And Phil really was thirsty. His throat scorched, all the liquid in his body having been pulled to the outside. What he wouldn’t do for a large, cool glass of water. Or to just sit in the river again. Gods, he wished it were yesterday morning. He would just tunnel them all out of that situation immediately. He wouldn’t have let Dan get taken. It was okay though. Soon they’d be reunited, and they’d be able to figure a way out together.

Their little progression continued on for some time, while Phil’s body ached from the exertion. It really would’ve been nice to sleep through the night, to gather his strength once more. Honestly, the fire was a bit excessive, seeing as Phil could currently barely bend even if he weren’t scared for his life.

Finally though, they settled down for the night, once Peter determined they were far enough away. He came up with some elaborate situation for them to sleep, shoving them under bushes and making one of his soldiers stay awake to keep watch. 

Phil curled in on himself, trying to make himself go to sleep. He needed it, needed the rest. He needed to get his strength back if he was going to be able to save Dan once they got to him. And so despite his unease, despite his desire to stay awake and alert, he forced himself to go to sleep. It would be better for him and Dan in the end, he kept reminding himself. Soon they’d both be together, and then Phil would keep Dan safe and he wouldn’t let him be captured every again. He’d destroy the whole forest before he’d let Dan get hurt. He wouldn’t take his eyes off the shorter boy for a second if it was what protecting him called for.

A bit restlessly, Phil fell asleep, occasionally waking up for a moment and catching one of the firebenders glaring at him creepily. Phil just ignored them, just turned on his side and forced himself back to sleep on the uncomfortable dirt. For Dan, he remembered, he repeated. For Dan.

—

The ground was shaking. Just barely, though. An insignificant amount, almost. Phil woke slightly, the night already fading into the dusky start of the day, and examined his companions. None of them could feel it, it looked like.

It made sense, anyway. He could understand it, at least. Being an earthbender made him very sensitive to the earth. When he was little and had had a lot of time on his hands, one of his very favorite things had been to just lie in the grass. It’d felt phenomenal, like the ground all around him was his home, a cushion made especially for him. He’d been able to feel the vibrations of carriages being pulled by ostrich-horses on the street, been able to feel his father walking around the garden, watering the plants. Sometimes, if he’d really concentrated, he’d been able to feel animals in the yard as well, small mammals and rodents creeping through the grasses and brush.

This vibration though, that Phil could feel now… it was no rodent. He didn’t bother to warn the firebenders, seeing as if any sort of trouble was coming, they could fend for themselves. Phil felt much better now after sleeping, despite it being on the hard ground. He’d been tempted to shape the ground beneath him into something softer, but he’d been afraid the soldiers would notice and accuse him of trying to attack them or something. Instead he’d decided to tough it out, and he’d remained on the ground.

Even as the vibrations in the ground became greater, the firebenders didn’t notice. Either they were oblivious, or Phil was more sensitive to the earth than he’d realized. A water skin had been shoved into his hands upon waking, and Phil had chugged it down greedily, cursing the soldiers for only giving it to him then. 

Now, he held his breath as whatever it was got closer. He hoped it wasn’t some wild animal rampaging towards them. As long as he escaped alive, he’d be fine. It could take the firebenders for all he cared, as long as he had some way to find Dan still. Unless… what if he wouldn’t be able to find Dan? Maybe he should warn his horrid companions, so that they could still have a chance to escape, so that they could still lead him to Dan.

Before Phil had a chance to do anything, the approaching force stopped. Phil peered into the trees, wondering if he’d be able to see anything.

“Let’s go,” Peter finally said, and he and his companions stood. Phil remained on the ground.

“I don’t know,” he commented. “I’m quite comfy here. How ‘bout you, Jaxon?” He would start annoying them earlier in the day today, and maybe they’d break faster. Maybe they’d insist on moving Phil faster, getting him to where they needed to be. Phil just wanted to reach Dan again.

Jaxon glared at him because of the comment, but Phil just grinned. 

“Stand,” Peter instructed, and with an annoyed huff, Phil stood. He didn’t doubt for a second that Peter was the most vicious of them all. He knew Peter was the one most likely to burn him in punishment. 

Immediately, the wall of fire was erected around him, and Phil could feel the heat seeping into his skin already. He wasn’t sure if that one skin of water would be enough. 

The group began walking, annoyingly slowly, and Phil could’ve sworn the ground was vibrating with them… 

It all happened alarmingly quickly.

One moment, Phil was walking between the firebenders, hot and grouchy already; the next he was soaking wet, the fire around him gone and the soldiers just as wet as him. Jaxon immediately turned to him, holding his flame aloft threateningly. 

“Hey, I’m no waterbender,” Phil said, raising his hands placatingly. The next thing he knew, a string of water was flying out of the trees and whipping Jaxon across the face. 

Phil sent a silent thank you into the sky for Pj, though part of Phil wondered if this would ruin his plan, if he wouldn’t be able to find Dan after all. Perhaps Pj would get captured with him, so that when Phil found Dan, he wouldn’t have to backtrack searching for Pj. No, instead they’d search for Louise, if she hadn’t already been captured along with Dan. 

“What the fuck?” Jaxon hissed, spinning around to face the trees behind him. Both Peter and Elijah turned to look as well, obviously outraged. It was at precisely that moment that two ostrich-horses erupted from the trees behind them, charging through the firebenders and scattering them.

Phil had a split second to look at the riders and incredulously think _Dan?_  before he was being scooped onto Dan’s ostrich-horse, the creature sprinting off down the path, two more steadily on its tail. Phil was shell shocked.

“I—what?” he whispered. Despite his confusion, and despite how desperately he wanted answers, he wrapped his arms tightly around Dan, pulling the smaller boy against his chest harshly. Phil pressed his face into Dan’s neck, unable to suppress the tears that leaked onto Dan’s skin. “You’re okay,” he whispered in reverence, unable to ease his grip on the boy even a little bit.

Dan laughed and pressed himself against Phil comfortingly. “And to think I was worried about you,” he admitted. “You were taunting them!”

“I spit on Jaxon yesterday,” Phil giggled, pressing his head against Dan’s shoulder, who roared in laughter. He could ask for answers later, could ask for everyone to explain everything that had happened much later. For now, he had Dan, and he had Pj and Louise. For now they were escaping, their mounts moving much faster than the firebenders could run.

Even as Phil thought this, jets of fire streamed past them, which the creatures easily dodged. It was like they were bred for such an escape, and Phil was damn thankful. He glanced behind himself, seeing the firebenders already falling back, and he flashed a grin and Pj and Louise.

“I missed you guys!” he shouted. He was pretty sure he heard Pj snort, and Louise shook her head in exasperation.

“Should we go underground?” Phil asked, and Dan hummed thoughtfully.

“Are you strong enough?”

“Never better,” Phil assured him. And it was almost true, anyway. He was feeling much better than he had, almost completely back to his normal strength. He would be fine to create a tunnel. 

“Do it,” Dan instructed. Phil created a gentle slope in the ground a while before them, giving the creatures time to adjust to the change of terrain. The animals didn’t seem fazed, however, and they continued into the ground easily. Phil could hear the soldiers shouting in outrage behind them, even as he slammed the entrance to the tunnel shut, grinning while he did. It was dark, but it didn’t seem to matter thanks to the ostrich-horses, which had better eyesight than them.

Phil was still holding Dan close, practically cuddling him, and Dan didn’t even seem to mind. Only a little while later they regressed into a walk, giving the animals a much needed break. They were fine, too. The firebenders wouldn’t be able to track them underground, couldn’t follow them or ambush them or anything. They’d be perfectly fine.

They traveled like this for a few hours, talking quietly, exchanging sides of stories and all calling each other rash and stupid and ridiculous. In the end, they were all just relieved to be together again, to be safe an inseparable. Phil couldn’t blame them for getting tired extremely early either, seeing as they’d apparently been riding at almost a sprint for hours on end in order to catch up with him. Phil was glad for the rest too, honestly, as he’d been surprised to find himself becoming tired earlier than he usually would. Probably as a result of making the tunnel for so long after only just healing. He didn’t mind going to bed early, however, and they all returned above ground for the night to feel the breeze on their faces and hear the leaves above them.

Figuring he was the least tired of them all, Phil offered to take first watch. Dan laid with his head in Phil’s lap while he stayed awake, and when nothing eventful happened during his watch, he woke Louise to take the next one. 

It was a relief, laying down next to Dan and pulling him into Phil’s chest, to wrap himself around Dan and finally feel safe again. He’d been so worried so constantly, and now he just felt safe and calm. He fell asleep smiling, his face pressed in Dan’s neck, Dan’s head turned into his hair, his breaths quiet.

—

Phil woke to shouting, and really, he’d had enough shouting of a lifetime.

There was a small fire in the middle of their camp.

Dan was tied to a tree, his head tilted into the air as he tried to lean away from Pj, who had a dagger made of ice at his throat. Louise was off to the side, crying.

“What the fuck!” Phil cried, leaping to his feet and rushing towards Dan. Pj stopped him by freezing his feet into the earth.

“Don’t trust him Phil,” Pj said darkly. “He’s one of them. He’s a firebender. I saw him!”

“Please,” Dan whispered quietly. “Please. I can explain.” His eyes darted towards Phil’s, but as if afraid of what he’d find there, they darted away again. But Phil already knew, he’d already accepted it, and he’d been an idiot. He shouldn’t have taken first watch, he should’ve stayed up to put out Dan’s fire if he had to. He’d just been so relieved to see Dan again, so thankful, it had completely slipped his mind.

“Wait,” Phil protested.

“We can’t trust him,” Pj said harshly. His icicle moved a bit closer to Dan, pressing barely against Dan’s neck. Dan flinched.

“Stop,” Phil said firmly, and Pj actually took a step back, raising an eyebrow at Phil. “He’s clearly not one of them,” Phil announced calmly.

“You don’t know that,” Pj said with a shake of his head. “It all could’ve been some elaborate ruse, some grand plan…”

“So all the fires in the middle of the night were clues then, not accidents? And when Dan woke up encased in fire? Also on purpose?”

“Those were all to throw us off his scent,” Pj hissed.

“Phil’s making sense,” Louise piped in, and she looked at Dan desperately, as if wishing for it to be true. She looked scared though, scared of Dan, of his fire. Perhaps of his lies.

Dan didn’t even try to argue for himself. He just looked dejected, and a little confused.

“If he were really on our side, he would’ve told us,” Pj said convincingly. “He would’ve made us fires when we were struggling. There’s so much he could’ve done!”

Dan coughed weakly, and Pj turned his glare on Dan. “What?”

“Nothing,” Dan muttered.

“What is it, Dan?” Phil asked gently. He smashed the ice around his feet with the earth, only to step closer to Dan.

“I can’t firebend,” Dan said quietly. Pj practically growled in response.

“Bullshit!” he cried. Dan flinched, but he didn’t admit to lying, didn’t acquiesce at all. “You’re clearly a firebender.”

“I’m a firebender,” Dan agreed, and Pj flung his hands out as if to say, _See?_ “But I can’t firebend.”

“I don’t understand,” Louise piped in.

“I can’t firebend. At least not willingly. I-I tried when I was kidnapped, to use it when they were taking me—but it wouldn’t work. It never works.”

Pj’s expression morphed into one of slight suspicious instead of outright disbelief. Dan just looked sad and embarrassed.

“Please let me down,” he asked quietly. Phil ignored the renewed look of distrust on Pj’s face and stepped forward to release Dan. His legs were dangling above the ground, his arms strapped high above him.

As Phil let him down, he caught Dan gently, tugging the boy against his own body. He tried to convey that he still trusted Dan, that he wasn’t mad at him, didn’t despise him. Seeming to accept this, Dan leaned into him, wrapping his arms firmly around Phil’s waist.

Everyone settled down after that, dispersing to separate parts of the courtyard. Louise sat at one edge, Pj on another, and Dan and Phil cuddled on a third. Phil was leaned against a tree, Dan between his legs. Phil couldn’t help playing with his hair gently.

“I’m sorry,” Dan whispered, turning his head slightly to look up at Phil.

“For what?”

“For not telling you.”

Phil scoffed softly into Dan’s ear, reaching up to play with Dan’s hair again, having been dislodged. “It’s okay,” he answered. “I don’t mind.”

“I’m sorry anyway,” Dan said with a shrug. Phil laughed gently against his neck.

“Pj will stop being so prickly come morning,” Phil promised. “In a matter of no time he’ll be back to his regular self.”

“He hates me,” Dan argued.

“He doesn’t,” Phil insisted. And then he leaned down, as if possessed, and kissed Dan on the back of his neck. They were already cuddling, already touching in so many ways, but this was… different.

Dan stiffened for a moment, and Phil prepared to be yelled at, but then Dan settled against him again, letting out a breath steadily.

“Can I sleep here?” he asked quietly.

“Of course,” Phil responded, his lips still pressed against the back of Dan’s neck. As if Dan had been waiting for the okay the entire time, he closed his eyes and slumped against Phil, immediately asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

For a moment Dan lived in ignorant bliss, not remembering all that has occurred during the night. He felt warm and—for once—safe. This was because there was a body wrapped almost completely around his and Dan couldn't have moved even if he wanted to. 

And then he remembered.

He remembered waking up already standing, confusion stabbing through his body. Before he could even stumble a step forward, before he could try to figure out why he'd been standing and where exactly he was, he'd been shoved harshly against a tree, ice latched around his wrists.

"What—?" Dan had murmured, but Pj had been in his face, a dagger of ice in his hand and pressed against Dan's throat. He'd swallowed uneasily, terrified and confused beyond belief.

"You're a liar!" he'd yelled, fury and betrayal etched on his face. "You're a little firebending spy!"

Dan's eyes had widened. What was going on? Why would Pj think—

"Pj?" Louise had said, having woken up and stumbled to her feet.

"Stay back, Louise," Pj had snarled. "He's a firebender."

"Please," Dan had whispered, finally seeing the fire glowing in the middle of the camp. He wanted to make it go away, even tried, concentrating on it, but he couldn't. It was like there was something blocking him from his ability, a wall separating himself from it. Except, apparently, when he was sleeping. Dan felt like an idiot, thinking it'd been some sort of spirit or something this whole time. Of course it'd been him. Of course he'd been the reason they were in danger. He messed everything up.

"No!" Pj had said angrily, and then he'd stepped away from Dan and started pacing. Dan had never seen him look so mad, never seen him look anything but pleasant, really. "We all risked our lives for _you_? Phil almost died for _you_?"

Dan had swallowed uneasily, something like guilt pooling in his stomach. Put like that... Well he had been deceiving them... But Phil had kidnapped him first, even if that didn't really matter to Dan anymore. It was alarmingly obvious, now that he'd been kidnapped from his kidnapper, that Phil taking him had only made his life take a turn for the better. He'd been so terrified back then, mouth sealed over and limbs constrained, but it meant nothing now. Not now that he knew Phil, now that he was happier. 

And then there was the fact that his insides felt like mush whenever he thought of Phil. He'd been so relieved to see Phil safe the day before, and the relief and euphoria had only lasted so long. Only lasted up to then, until he was waking up restrained and confused.

Pj had come right back at him with that dagger of ice, and Dan had been unable to help wondering how their friendship was so weak. So recently he'd been in wonderment at all the friends he'd made, at how close he felt to them, the love he had for them. And then Pj had held a weapon to his throat.

Thankfully, Phil had woken up and saved him. Dan had been too exhausted, too worn out and hurt to even try to defend himself. He'd just let Phil do all the work, and afterwards he'd let himself lean against him, let himself be comforted in his warmth.

Remembering it all now, Dan knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He pried his eyes open, foggy with sleep, and glanced around the camp. Phil's arm was wrapped tightly around him and the forest looked dull thanks to the cloud cover. He blinked to clear the fog from his eyes and had to stifle a gasp, realizing Pj was sitting across the clearing, wide awake and glaring at him.

Dan felt himself try to shrink away, subtly pressing himself harder into Phil's stomach. His eyes darted away from Pj, though he couldn't resist looking back at him. Pj's stare was unrelenting. Dan could've sworn there was fire in his eyes.

Without warning, a coldness seeped into Dan's clothes—water. He blinked in surprise, staring at Pj with fear as water crawled up his entire side, seemed to sink into his skin. He started shivering, shaking almost violently despite Phil's warm body pressed against his. Dan could feel the body heat escaping from him. Would Pj end it like this? When Dan was too afraid to do anything?

"Pj," he whispered, his teeth chattering. "Don't do this."

"Why should I believe you're anything but a liar? How do I know that you didn't lead those firebenders to us on purpose?"

Dan swallowed thickly, trying to concentrate through the cold. "You only have my word," he said. Phil was still sound asleep. "I've never been good at firebending," he admitted. "And I've never wanted to be. It—it terrifies me. Maybe even more than it does you."

Pj looked almost contemplative, and Dan kept talking.

"Fire is destructive. It burns and destroys and I don't know why anyone would want to be able to bend it. I've been repressing it for as long as I can remember."

It was all true. Except before, Dan had actually been able to use it occasionally. When the sergeant commander had screamed at him, forcing him to participate in the drills. When his father had glared at him, his voice deep and angry and slow. For some reason, Dan had dug into himself and been able to release his fire. And yet when his life had actually been in danger he hadn't been able to get to it. It confused Dan, but he didn't necessarily mind. A life without being able to bend fire was better than being able to, after all.

Pj was silent for a while, and then the water abruptly disappeared from Dan's skin, disappearing back beneath the ground. He should've felt warmer, but instead he still felt frozen, his body shaking violently. White air puffed in front of him with every breath.

"I believe you," Pj said quietly. Dan just nodded, grateful that he did. Phil, perhaps subconsciously feeling Dan shaking, pulled him closer, hugged him tighter.

Dan closed his eyes and shifted, pressing his face into Phil's chest instead and closing his eyes.

—

"I'm hungry," Louise announced loudly, throwing her bag to the ground. It startled one of the ostrich-horses, making it scuttled towards the edge of the clearing. Dan eyed it warily, afraid it might run away.

"Didn't you pack food?" Phil asked. Pj coughed sheepishly.

"We were so concentrated on getting you... I guess we forgot."

He was right. Dan could remember raiding stores for clothes, both for him and Phil, but he hadn't once stopped to grab food.

He was standing on the opposite side of the clearing to Phil, mostly out of embarrassment than anything else. Realizing that he'd been cuddling with Phil for so long, that he'd let Phil _kiss his neck_  had finally gotten to him. He just needed a little room to breathe, a little room to think. He'd never been so intimate with anyone else in his life, much less a boy.

"Well we have to return the ostrich-horses anyway. We could just go back to the city," Pj said. It made Dan nervous, thinking of going back to that city. They'd openly disobeyed what Carrie had instructed of them, and yet Pj didn't seem worried at all. Perhaps they were close?

"Wait," Phil said, "we're not keeping them?" He looked at one of the creatures mournfully before reaching out to stroke it.

"Do we know how to get back to the city?" Dan questioned. They'd run quite far under the tunnels the day before, ending up in a random patch of forest Dan didn't recognize.

Pj made an unsure noise, Phil and Louise both whipping their heads to him. They still thought that he had it out for Dan, though Dan was pretty sure it was resolved now. Pj didn't seem mad anymore, at least, and he no longer seemed likely to try to freeze Dan to death.

"Not exactly," Pj finally answered. "But I'm sure once we find a path we'll be able to navigate from there."

Louise frowned uncertainly. "And what'll we do until then? We don't have any food."

"We hunt," Phil chimed in. He looked kind of queasy at the idea of killing an animal, and Dan didn't blame him. Still, they would do what they had to in order to eat.

They all set out then, searching for small animals to capture. As if all the animals were aware they were being hunted, the forest was suddenly eerily silent, the only rustling of the bushes coming from the wind and not creatures.

"Come here, breakfast," Louise called softly, making Dan snort.

"I don't think they respond to that," he answered quietly, careful not to spook any animals that might be in the area.

"I have an idea," Phil spoke up suddenly, before abruptly laying flat on the ground.

"Death isn't the answer, Phil," Louise chided.

"Shut up," Phil laughed. "I'm listening."

"For what?" Pj questioned.

"Animals. Nobody move."

Dan stood stock still as Phil laid on the ground, his eyes shut lightly. His hands were splayed out on the ground, his brows furrowed in concentration. Suddenly, he grinned.

"Over there," he whispered, his eyes still closed, before he pointed to his side. "About twenty paces away in the brush."

Pj raised an eyebrow, impressed before Phil bit his lip in concentration and then—an animal whimpered.

“Holy shit!” Louise exclaimed. “Did you just—?”

“Yeah.”

There was a moment of silence, everyone taking in the fact that Phil had just killed an animal with barely any effort. Phil breathed out heavily, as if physically pushing the pain and guilt away, before he stood. “Let’s make dinner.”

—

Days had passed and they were still, unfortunately, just as lost as they had been before. The first time they’d cooked, Louise had turned to Dan and jokingly asked, “Want to make us a fire, Dan?” to which Dan had stuttered and stumbled with his eyes wide.

“I can’t bend,” he’d finally managed to splutter, and Louise had laughed and shook her head. She was only joking, after all.

Just that morning they’d emerged from the forest into a desert, at which point it became immediately obvious that they were nowhere near the city they were trying to go to. Ever since entering the desert, it’d been nonstop complaining from both Phil and Pj, both of whom’s bending were incredibly dulled. Pj, obviously, didn’t have any water readily available, other than the occasional desert plant they passed. Phil, on the other hand, was having trouble bending the sand beneath them.

“It’s like…” he’d said sometime earlier in the day, their feet sliding and sinking on the shifting ground beneath them. “I can feel it, and I _can_  move it, but it’s not the same. I feel like I can’t really grip it.” As if to prove his point, he held out his hand, glaring at the ground before them. It had trembled slightly, though nothing more happened. He had huffed in annoyance before continuing on.

“Let’s just get out of here as soon as we can,” Louise said now. Dan wholeheartedly agreed. It was absolutely freezing, thanks to it being winter. He’d never been to this region before, but he knew from learning about it in school that it only experienced two seasons—summer and winter—and each were brutal. He understood perfectly now, shivering, with no trees to block the wind or absorb the cold.

“I think we’ll be out of here soon,” Pj said tentatively. His title as guide was on the fritz, seeing as he’d assured them that they’d be able to find their way back to the city, only for them to end up in the desert.

“Alright, so in a few weeks maybe,” Louise joked.

“I’m serious,” Pj insisted. “It’s probably a two day’s ride from one side of the desert to the other, as long as we’re not walking longwise.”

“I hope we’re not walking longwise,” Phil muttered.

“I’m pretty sure we aren’t,” Pj promised.

Dan twisted around to exchange a look with Phil, both of them rolling their eyes. It was lucky that they were all still in such a good mood despite the water they now had to ration and the cold seeping into their bones. Dan and Phil were slightly luckier though. With Dan’s back pressed against Phil’s chest, the two of them having to share an ostrich-horse, he was willing to bet that he was feeling a bit warmer than both Pj and Louise.

Not to mention the fact that Phil’s arms were wrapped around his waist, and occasionally as they traveled, his fingers would brush up against Dan’s side, slipping under his shirt. Dan was sure he were doing it on purpose.

They were careful not to push the ostrich-horses too hard, especially since one of the creatures was forced to work harder, having to carry two people at once. Desperate though they were to escape the desert, they stopped moving at nightfall, knowing both themselves and their steeds could use the rest.

It was impossible to ignore how cold it was, especially now that the sun had gone down. Icy cold pervaded the air, snuck into their clothes and under their skin. Even all huddled tighter, doing the best they could to get warm, wasn’t enough.

“We’re idiots,” Phil muttered. And it was true. They hadn’t thought to take any rocks with them to light fires, not that it would do them any good without wood from the forest, both of which were supplies normally readily available to them. Without a fire, they couldn’t keep warm, even under the bed rolls they’d had packed in their bags.

“Dan,” Pj said then, quietly. Dan instantly shrunk away, pressed himself harder against Phil’s side. He knew what was coming, had known for a while now, but he didn’t want it to.

“I can’t,” Dan whispered. Phil’s hand came up almost immediately, settling on his side. Dan just shook his head.

“You have to try,” Pj insisted.

“I’m serious,” Dan promised, “I can’t. And even if I could…”

“What, you wouldn’t use it? Not even to save us?”

Dan swallowed thickly. Of course he would use it, if he could, to save his friends. But he couldn’t.

“Just try,” Pj begged. Dan found it nearly impossible to believe that just a few days ago, he’d woken up with a knife to his throat for the very ability Pj was asking him to use.

Dan breathed slowly, forcing himself to sit up. He held out his hand, trying to force his way deeper inside of himself, trying to find that wall and tear it down, let the ability flow through him.

Nothing happened. His hand stayed fire-free, and part of Dan was relieved.

“Why do you think you can’t do it?” Phil asked quietly. He leaned amicably against Dan’s side, completely unafraid. Didn’t he know Dan was a firebender? That he could accidentally make fire consume them both, if he could ever reach his power?

“I don’t know,” Dan said. The wall inside him… it felt indestructible. He could feel himself pressing against it, trying to pry a piece out of it maybe, but nothing happened.

“Are you scared of it?” Phil asked, and Dan felt himself stiffen. Who wouldn’t be scared of it? Who was foolish enough to not be scared of the fact that they could _control fire_?

“Yes,” Dan answered honestly. And maybe he couldn’t use his power because even now, even facing possible death, he didn’t want to use it. He liked having the wall there, separating himself from it. He didn’t _want_  to break it down, didn’t want to let it consume him.

“You don’t need to be,” Phil said, sounding so sincere that Dan blinked in surprise. What did he know about bending fire?

Louise and Pj were watching silently, listening as Phil talked to Dan.

“Yes I do.”

“You don’t,” he insisted. “Bending is incredible. It’s like an extension of yourself, something you have complete control over, something that completes you. It can’t hurt you unless you let it, and it won’t hurt _us_  unless you make it.”

“I don’t believe you,” Dan whispered. “Fire does whatever it wants. It doesn’t listen to me. Once I let it out, there’s no telling what it might do.”

Phil simply shook his head, before scooting behind Dan and wrapping his arms around Dan’s waist, resting his chin on Dan’s shoulder. “You control it, Dan. You can do it. Just reach inside yourself, feel it from your stomach, twisting through your spine, down your arm. Feel it in your palm.”

Dan took a shuddering breath before closing his eyes and concentrating once more. He let himself lean against Phil, let Phil take all of his weight. If something went wrong, nobody would be able to put it out but Dan. There wasn’t any water around for Pj to staunch the flame with, and Phil could barely control the earth here. It was all up to Dan. Whether they were warm or not, whether they got burned or not—it was all up to Dan.

He tried to tunnel into himself, tried to _feel_  the fire within him. He could feel the wall. But behind it, he could’ve sworn his fire was thundering, raging and pounding against the wall, trying its best to escape.

Dan didn’t want to let it out.

“You can do it, Dan,” Phil whispered, his lips pressed against Dan’s neck. Dan shivered, the feel of Phil’s warm breath through the cold air making him suck in a breath. That was the second time Phil’s lips had touched his neck. “You control it.”

Dan nodded imperceptibly. He pressed himself against the wall, feeling his fire roaring on the other side. It was warm here, the heat from his fire seeping through the bricks of the wall, getting warmer and warmer against his skin. Not warmer—hotter! It was going to burn him!

“It won’t hurt you,” Phil continued. “Not unless you want it to.”

Dan tried to breathe, tried to get ahold of himself. It wouldn’t burn him. It wouldn’t hurt him because Dan didn’t want it to. He was just going to extricate it. He was going to knock down the wall and bring the fire with him, would hold it in his palm and keep his friends warm. It wouldn’t hurt him and it wouldn’t hurt them either. Dan wouldn’t let it. He wouldn’t _make_  it.

He repeated this over and over, until it became a bloody mantra in his mind. And then, ignoring his fear, shoving it out of the way, he pushed against the wall, harder and harder until it came crumbling down around him. With it came the fire, wild and angry from being restrained for so long, locked away and forgotten. Panic threatened to overwhelm Dan—and fire with it—but he controlled the flames. He steadied them and held them at bay, making the fire within him settle, letting it thrum throughout his body and warm his limbs, but still remain _in him_.

And then he drew it the surface, let it break through his mold over his left palm, until he was holding his fire.

Louise gasped somewhere near him, and Dan wrenched open his eyes, the fear returning just as quickly as he’d let it go. She was fine though, everyone was fine, even him. And there was fire in his hand!

A large part of Dan wanted to make it disappear, wanted to let it go and feel relieved, but he couldn’t. Somehow, over various nights, he’d unconsciously created fires and left them to burn on their own, sustaining themselves without wood even. He could still do that now, despite being awake. He just had to concentrate.

“You’re doing it Dan,” Phil whispered. One of his arms was wrapped around Dan’s waist. Something warm flared in his chest, though it wasn’t his fire. He took a deep breath and concentrated, willed the fire into existence, until the flame in his hand moved to the space in front of him, and grew and grew until he told it to stop—and it did.

And then Dan let go of the fire, stopped drawing it to his fingers, and the fire stayed. He wasn’t burned, no one was burned!

“I did it,” Dan said, astonished. Phil squeezed him tightly, wrapped him up in a hug.

“I knew you could.”

“Me too,” Pj chimed in. Dan scoffed loudly and Phil laughed into his ear. Maybe Dan wouldn’t have to be so scared of what he could do anymore. And maybe he wouldn’t sleepwalk now, wouldn’t set fires in his sleep.

Even with the fire going, finally making the feeling return to their numb extremities, Phil didn’t move far from Dan. In fact, they stayed pressed together for the rest of the night, in what was quickly becoming one of Dan’s favorite parts of the day. He just couldn’t deny any longer that he liked being pressed against Phil for hours at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! this is just a quick thank you to everyone who's been commenting! thank you for reading my story and ilysm! 
> 
> also, for anyone new or who doesn't know, i update every saturday! :]


	14. Chapter 14

Phil thanked several gods that he knew by name when he saw the glowing of torches in the town before them. He was so sick of traveling, sick of sleeping on the ground and being cold and hungry. His stomach grumbled just seeing the town, and he squeezed Dan’s waist slightly in excitement. When Dan didn’t respond, he realized the shorter boy was asleep.

That happened a lot while they were riding on their ostrich-horse, one of them falling asleep as they leaned against the other. It was hard not to, the long hours feeling repetitive as they slowly covered ground. They’d emerged from the desert after only two days, exactly as Pj had said, and had since been traveling on a worn path through open fields and small stretches of forest. Seeing the town truly felt like a blessing. 

“Oh thank gods,” Louise murmured, looking up at the town before them. Phil exchanged a grin with her, squeezing Dan’s unconscious body once more. He couldn’t help it, sharing his reactions with Dan felt normal now.

It’d been exciting, seeing Dan originally use his bending. Except for the part where he’d been so terrified, that’d been sad. And a bit scary too.

Phil couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be afraid of your own ability, to be so unwilling to use it. To think that it would hurt him as if it had a mind of its own. Phil couldn’t help wondering what had made him think this. Surely, no bender was born with an innate fear of their own ability. Something like that… it’d have to be taught. Conditioned.

And Dan still didn’t use his ability freely either. Phil bended at almost every opportunity he got—for practical use, yes—but also for fun. It still felt incredibly freeing and amazing to be able to use his ability when for so long he’d been restricted from it. And Pj bended just as often.

Dan, however, clearly still had an air of fear surrounding his own bending. He never used it flippantly, never twirled fire around his fingers unthinkingly due to boredom, as Pj was wont to do with his water. He never offered to use it or thought of it as a first resort to anything.

When they’d finally returned to a forested landscape and Louise had asked him to make them a fire, as they’d done while wandering through un-forested lands, he’d tentatively refused and suggested finding a few rocks to bang together instead. Pj had looked like he wanted to protest, annoyed at the work they now had to do when they could obtain fire so easily, but Phil had stopped him with a look. People didn’t overcome fears in a day, and Dan’s fear being something that was _inside_  him, something that he had to control… It was understandable that it might take him a while to get past it.

“Dan,” Phil said softly, nudging him. He ignored the way his heart clenched as Dan groaned softly, turning his head to the side and inhaling deeply.

“What?” he murmured, his voice thick with sleep. Phil could feel Dan’s chest rising and falling against his own with his every breath.

“We’re almost at a town.”

Dan made a disbelieving sound before sitting up slightly, his hands rubbing his eyes. “Wow,” he breathed. “I almost thought we’d never find one.”

“Have faith,” Pj protested, sitting proudly atop his ostrich-horse, “for I knew we would find one eventually.”

“It’s thanks to you we got so lost,” Dan argued, yawning widely immediately after. Pj snorted.

“That’s what they want you to think.”

“Who’s they?”

A long pause. “The gods.”

Phil rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t keep the grin off his face as they finally dismounted their steeds and tied them up by the edge of the forest, preparing to sneak into the town. It was possible that there would be wanted posters of their faces, even here, in a town that felt so far away. They all put up their hoods and walked casually into the town, attempting to look as unhurried and non-intimidating as they could when obviously covering their faces.

“I’m excited for the food,” Louise whispered excitedly. “No more little forest game for me. I’m looking for _big meat_.”

Dan moaned wistfully. “And bread,” he added. “And _cheese_.”

“Yes to the bread, no to the cheese,” Phil responded. Dan looked at him, affronted.

“You’ve lost all my love,” he said airily, turning up his nose and looking away from Phil. It was a good thing too, because Phil felt his cheeks go pink. Did that mean he _did_  have Dan’s love? Or was Dan just playing the role of boyfriend that Louise and Pj still thought they were?

It was almost weird to imagine, thinking about how their friends thought they were dating—probably even thought they were in love—when they weren’t. Phil shoved his thoughts aside.

“Sure,” Pj was saying, as Phil tuned back in. “But what we really want is pastries!”

Louise sighed sadly. “Everything we want to eat… We’re going to have to steal.” Dan huffed in obvious exasperation.

“I hate stealing,” he admitted. “It makes me feel like the bad guy.”

There was a long pause, during which Phil kept his eyes on Pj, afraid he might make some sort of rude comment. “Yes,” Pj said, “but it’s necessary for our survival.”

“Even the pastries?” Louise questioned hopefully. Pj made a pained sound.

“Yes,” he decided.

—

With stolen food stuffed in their bags and stomachs, as well as a few new items of clothing, they were prepared to leave. They’d stolen everything as discreetly as they could, at one point even persuading Dan to create a (small) fire on the other side of the market to draw everyone’s attention away from the wares they were stealing. Pj, of course, had played the benevolent waterbending stranger and had helped to put it out. Knowing that Pj was going to do that had helped alleviate Dan’s fears about creating it, anyway.

“What if it gets out of control?” Dan had asked, panic clear in his voice. “All the market stalls are made of wood, and a lot of the buildings too. I could destroy this town, I could—”

“Dan,” Pj had interrupted. “Waterbender, remember?”

Dan had paused. “Oh yeah.”

It was as they were making their way out of the town that they stopped due to hearing a passerby’s conversation.

“Yeah,” one man was saying, his voice deep and gruff, his face barely recognizable underneath its big beard. “I heard they were moved to the Fort a couple months ago. I still can’t believe they’ve been held captive so long. Ten years.”

“It’s disgusting,” his companion, a petite woman, remarked. “I mean, they’re people too. Why is the Fire Nation so against earthbenders, anyway?”

“Shh,” the man said immediately. “Imagine if there were a firebender around right now. They’d light you on fire if they heard you sharing sentiments with them.” Pj smirked at Dan, who rolled his eyes.

The woman scoffed. “Well I’m sick of it. They’re all suffering in there, they don’t deserve to be locked up. It’s sick.”

Phil’s heart, for the entire conversation so far, had decided to beat so loudly that he almost hadn’t been able to make out their words. Imprisoned earthbenders? Locked up for ten years? Could it possibly be…?

He didn’t want to let himself hope, but it was impossible not to. He’d always imagined, ever since that day when his father was taken from him, that all the earthbenders the Fire Nation had taken had been executed in secret. But if they’d been locked up… Well, then clearly they were still alive!

What had Phil been doing all his life, sitting around in a Fire Nation controlled city, letting the dust of his ability settle around him, going unused for as long as it did? He could’ve been rescuing his father years ago! He’d been good at earthbending back when he was eight, seeing as it’d been his father teaching him. He probably could’ve saved him that very year. Instead, Phil had let him suffer behind bars for ten long years… What kind of a son was he?

“Phil,” Dan whispered. “Are you okay?”

“My father…” Phil whispered, swallowing thickly. “My dad… he was taken by the Fire Nation ten years ago!”

He watched as his friends’ eyes widened in sympathy, shining with sadness and remorse. Phil could barely even register them. All he could think about was his father, probably laying on some cold jail cell cot—or possibly the floor. Who knew what little kindnesses the Fire Nation was willing to offer? They probably made their prisoners eat off the ground just for the fun of it.

“My dad…” Phil said again, unable to stop thinking about it. He had to do something! Now that he knew, he couldn’t just let his father rot in there, couldn’t leave him alone to suffer. He had to do something now that he knew he _could_ , now that he was using his bending again. Gods, he had to save his father as soon as he could.

But what would his friends think about that? He obviously couldn’t force them to come with him, couldn’t ask them to put themselves in danger like that. His heart throbbed at the thought of being separated from them again, at having to find them for a second time, but it didn’t matter. This was something he had to do.

“Let’s save him,” Dan said. His words sounded as if they were coming from under water.

“What?” Phil breathed.

“Let’s save him,” Dan said adamantly. “We could do it, I know we could!”

Phil looked around only to see his friends nodding at him, looking determined and furious that his father had even been taken in the first place. He felt something inside him swell, felt love and gratefulness for his friends expand in his chest and he couldn’t stop himself from stepping forward and embracing them all, tears clinging to his eyelashes.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, his voice already giving away the fact that he was crying. He didn’t care. His father was going to be saved.

—

Phil glanced over at Dan, who was laying on his back and staring up at the starlit sky. Louise and Pj weren’t there, having wandered off into the forest together some time ago in an in no way discreet attempt to give them “privacy”. As if they actually needed it.

“You don’t need to wear that anymore, you know,” Phil said quietly. He was staring at the necklace settled against Dan’s collarbone, ironically shaped into a crude heart.

“Hm?” Dan said, before glancing down at his necklace. He lifted his hand up to it, fingering the sharp bottom of the heart, the pointed edge that Phil had purposefully made it into in case Dan were to ever disobey him, in case he were to try to sell Phil out to a stranger. Guilt gnawed at his insides just thinking about it—the way he’d treated Dan at first.

“Why?” Dan asked.

“You’re not my prisoner anymore,” Phil answered, rolling over closer. “You’re my…” Dan’s eyes widened slightly, and he glanced over at Phil, who quickly lost any courage that he might’ve been building. “Friend.”

Dan swallowed. “You’re my friend too.” Even though Phil had known with almost absolute certainty that Dan hadn’t hated him anymore… hearing it aloud made him feel a hundred times lighter. “But I don’t think I’ll get rid of it.”

Phil felt taken aback. “How come?”

“I’ve grown used to it,” Dan answered simply. “It’d feel weird if it weren’t a weight against my neck any longer.” Phil nodded, trying to understand. Personally, he felt like it was an insult to Dan, felt like it was just a glaring reminder of the time he had held Dan captive, had threatened his life and his safety. He’d put that necklace on Dan’s neck as if it were a collar, and somehow Dan had grown to like it? Phil thought about voicing these thoughts, but he resisted. Mainly because the thought of a heart hanging around Dan’s neck, despite the circumstances with which he’d constructed it, made his stomach fill with warmth.

“At least let us revamp it,” Phil insisted.

“How?”

“Give it here.”

Dan, somewhat reluctantly, reached up to take it off. As if he _could_  take it off. Somehow they’d both forgotten that Phil had purposely made it small so that Dan wouldn’t be able to slip it over his head, wouldn’t be able to escape Phil. Dan blushed when it got stuck on his chin, Phil’s cheeks immediately imitating the color.

“Er—We can make the chord longer too,” Phil said, before bending a rock from the ground, making it into the shape of a knife, and reaching around Dan’s neck to cut the leather of his necklace.

The pendant fell into Phil’s open hand, which he stared at for long enough until he’d force all the edges to smoothen, to become soft and rounded.

“Light a fire,” Phil instructed.

“What? Why?” Dan asked immediately, his body already tensing with fear.

“You’ll see,” Phil answered, scooting closer so that their sides were pressed together. And then he wrapped his arm around Dan’s shoulders. Dan took a shuddering breath before lighting the fire in his palm, holding it carefully away from their bodies. Phil made the rock float in the center of the fire, made the heat from the fire harden it and make it darker, make it shine.

“Okay,” Phil finally said. “You can let it go now.”

Dan released his fire immediately, taking a shuddering breath, before looking at the small heart pendant that was now floating in front of him. It looked beautiful, shiny and gleaming. Phil reached out and grabbed it, delighted to find it smooth to the touch. He used some spare thread from his bag (they had spare everything these days, their clothes ripping far too easily with their constant movement) and threaded it through the pendant before hanging it back around Dan’s neck, this time the heart reaching to his chest. Dan reached out and touched it, looking slightly amazed, rubbing his thumb over the smooth surface.

“Like it?” Phil asked.

“I love it,” Dan answered, leaning into Phil slightly, only for a moment. And then he looked to Phil, his eyes shining, and leaned forward.

For some reason, Phil wasn’t expecting it. He wasn’t expecting it when Dan’s eyes glanced between his own and his lips. He didn’t expect it when Dan’s face got closer and closer. He didn’t expect it when he could feel Dan’s breaths fanning out across his lips. He didn’t even expect it when Dan’s lips touched his, a soft, gentle caress before he started to pull away.

And Phil was not having that.

His hand shot up, latching onto Dan’s chin, and pulled him closer. His lips moved against Dan’s, pressing and pulling, tasting and touching, as Dan made small sounds of enjoyment into his mouth. Phil was overwhelmed. It was impossible to ignore how he felt about Dan, how he’d been wanting to do this for what felt like forever now, but he’d tried—as carefully as he could—to hide the feeling. He hadn’t wanted Dan to know, mainly because Phil knew he didn’t deserve Dan. He could never deserve Dan, and yet…

Phil pulled Dan closer, closer and closer and closer, until Dan was on his lap, one hand gripping his shoulder and the other threading through Phil’s hair as they kissed. It was good. It was _so_  good, Dan’s soft lips, his warm tongue, his wonderful taste. Phil never wanted it to stop, he wanted to kiss Dan for the rest of his miserable life.

He couldn’t help remembering that morning in the forest, when Dan had woken up from a delightful kind of dream, his body rubbing against Phil’s. At the time, they’d both felt kind of embarrassed (well, Dan had been noticeably mortified, actually) but now Phil couldn’t help wondering if something like that could happen between them again.

“Phil,” Dan breathed in between kisses, his hand clenched around Phil’s clothes so tightly it would be sure to leave wrinkles.

“Yes?” Phil panted.

“Why haven’t we been doing this the whole time?”

Phil groaned into his mouth, pulling him closer and crushing their bodies together. He wanted to be closer, he wanted to be as close as they possibly could be. Gods, he wanted to be in Dan, wanted their clothes to be gone, wanted to touch Dan’s warm, bare skin.

He had just snuck his hand up Dan’s shirt, thumbing over his soft stomach, splaying his palm over his chest, when a branch snapped loudly from behind them.

“Oi—love birds!” Pj’s stupid, horrible, annoying voice called. “We gave you plenty of time to have sex. If you haven’t done it by now then it’s too late.”

Dan squawked indignantly, jumping away from Phil, his face bright red.

“We weren’t—we didn’t!”

Pj laughed. “Well it’s obvious that you _weren’t_. You’d be much less clothed.”

Phil subtly adjusted himself under his clothes, unable to keep the grin off his face even after being caught making out with Dan. He just wanted him back on his lap, wanted his tongue back in his mouth…

“Who’s hungry?” Louise asked, which, as always, got a chorus of “me!”s. “I vote Pj makes us dinner,” she said, before throwing herself onto the ground next to Phil. “I’m in the mood for soup.”

Pj groaned, but he went about making their dinner anyway. Louise looked at Phil solemnly.

“We’ll save your dad,” she promised, her eyes serious. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Phil answered. Dan reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Phil sighed pleasantly and tilted his head back. It seemed as if everything was finally going his way. He had Dan, after all—soft, wonderful, beautiful Dan. And soon he would have his father too. Soon everything would be how it should be.


	15. Chapter 15

Dan was shoveling porridge into his mouth as he watched Phil curiously. The porridge was thanks to Louise, who claimed it was her specialty, and Phil was just doing something weird. Dan opted to remain silent as he observed.

There was an abandoned bowl of the breakfast by Phil's side, which he should really eat because Louise was right—she was good at making it. Steam still curled out of the hot meal.

Phil was squinting at his hand though—almost glaring—as he held it aloft before his face. His other hand was scrunched in the grass by his side as he concentrated. Dan was afraid he would start growling at the air in his hand.

Dan watched as Phil did absolutely nothing (while looking like he was trying to accomplish something), his mind wandering. He couldn't help but think back on the night before... again and again and again. Gods, he'd been _in_  Phil's lap. They'd kissed—many times!

And Dan had loved it. He wasn't even afraid to admit it—his heart sped up just thinking about it, his face heating.

He cursed Pj and Louise for interrupting them. He couldn't help wondering how much longer they could've done that, how much longer he could've stayed perched on Phil's lap, had their friends not returned.

Dan was broken out of his thoughts as Phil groaned in annoyance and slung whatever was in his hand away from him. It was just a handful of dust. Dan stood up, bringing his breakfast with him, and walked across the clearing to sit beside Phil. Their shoulders touched as he sat and Dan had to hold in a grin when Phil leaned against him.

"What're you doing?" Dan inquired.

"It's kind of dumb," Phil admitted, but even as he did, he reached forward and rifled through the dirt once more. He came up with a tiny seed, which he placed in the center of his palm. "But when I was little... Well first of all, my dad's like—the best earthbender."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Phil breathed. "He's always been able to do anything. Like, really _really_  good earthbenders can train themselves to make flowers bloom from seeds, and he would do it all the time."

"Woah," Dan whispered. "I never knew earthbenders could do that… It sounds kind of like magic."

Phil gasped, his hand suddenly shaking. Dan’s eyes widened with worry, afraid he’d said something rude or insulted some sort of earthbender custom. Phil’s eyes shone—with tears?—and Dan felt anxiety building in his stomach. ”Phil? What's wrong?"

He swallowed thickly before clenching his hand around the seeds in his palm, shaking his head slowly. "I just—my dad... I miss him."

"We're gonna save him," Dan promised, leaning back against Phil, who tilted his head to look at him, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I can't believe I'm going to see him again. It's been _ten years_.”

Dan couldn’t think of what the say to that. Instead he reached out and grabbed Phil’s hand, letting their fingers wrap gently around each other’s. “So you’re trying to make flowers?” he finally asked. Phil sighed heavily.

“Trying is the key word. Failing, more like. It’s impossible.”

“It’s clearly not impossible,” Dan argued. “If your dad can do it then it’s in your genes. You should keep trying.” While it felt like the proper, encouraging thing to say, saying it left Dan feeling a bit queasy. By this logic it would mean that he possessed the very same power as his father, to burn and burn and burn—so much and so hot that it’d leave nothing but ashes in its wake. Dan didn’t want that.

“I don’t know,” Phil debated, leaning back until he was lying on the ground, the seeds in his hand now concealed in his fist, resting on his chest. “It’s not like I could possibly learn to do it in time anyway. I used to try all the time when I was little. It was my biggest goal.”

Dan huffed loudly, following Phil and lying down as well. “It’s never too late to learn something,” he assured. “You’ll never be able to make a flower bloom if you don’t try.”

Phil frowned thoughtfully before opening his hand again to look at the seeds. “I guess you’re right.”

“I am.”

Phil blew air out from his nose before glaring into his palm again. As he did, the seeds wiggled—barely.

“Seems like you’re getting close.”

“I’m not,” Phil said matter of factly. “There’s a little bit of dirt surrounding the shell of the seed, that’s what I’m bending.”

“Maybe that’s what your dad was doing too,” Dan suggested. “Have you ever asked him?”

Phil laughed kind of hopelessly. “No. All those years ago… I’d been so determined. I’d planned to figure it out on my own so I could show him one day.”

Dan was silent for a while. He desperately wanted to think of something to say, to think of some way to protect Phil from his anguish. “Well, it looks like you’ll be able to ask him soon.” Phil grinned at this, undeniably excited to be able to see his father again. Dan was nervous, scared that Phil’s father wouldn’t approve of him, or something. That he’d tell Phil not to consort with a firebender, perhaps.

But this wasn’t about Dan. This was about Phil and his father, this was about doing whatever he could to make Phil happy, even if it meant breaking into a top secret prison. They’d already planned to do so while Louise had made their breakfast, swapping plans and ideas until they’d finally settled on one.

“I’m gonna have to go in,” Phil had said, only to receive wary looks from the rest of them. “Look—it’s not like we can accomplish this without someone going inside. And since it’s my dad, it’ll be me.”

“But it’s dangerous,” Pj had answered. “Maybe we can think of another way.” Phil had just shook his head, his mind set.

“Then I’m going with you,” Dan had supplied. Phil had just looked at him, aghast.

“Oh no you’re not.”

“I am. I doubt you could do it alone anyway, much less without me.” Phil had looked taken aback at this, though he’d given Dan a chance to explain himself before rejecting it immediately.

“This way I can pretend to be a guard and you can be a prisoner. It makes perfect sense—no one will question me with my firebending, as long as I can get a proper uniform, that is. And you’ll fit right in with the prisoners too.”

“What if they recognize your faces? You’ve been posted all over popular towns for weeks now,” Pj had countered.

“I’ll be wearing a soldier’s mask,” Dan had responded easily, having thought through his plan the night before, unable to sleep due to thinking about his kiss with Phil as well as the constant pressure of Phil’s body behind him, his arm draped over his side. “And Phil will still just fit right in. It’ll look like he’s finally been caught.”

Phil had chewed on his lip thoughtfully, his expression serious as he’d silently debated the pros and cons of Dan’s plan. The pro was that it was the best plan they had yet, plus it had what felt like a pretty high chance for survival. The con was both of them actually having to go into the prison. From there they’d have to wing everything, which is where the real problems could actually happen—where fatal mistakes could be made.

“I don’t like it,” Louise had said. “What’re Pj and I supposed to do?”

“Not get involved,” Phil had said plainly. “Or you can keep watch from the outside if you really want, not that you’ll be able to do anything if something goes wrong.” Pj had only looked angrier and angrier as the conversation had gone along. It was clear that he wanted to help, wanted to be there to help rescue Phil’s father, to help protect him while he was in there, but this really was a mission for two. The more of them that went into the prison the more lives were at risk, not to mention the fact that they were each a liability to each other. There was no way any of them were going to let each other get hurt, which mean that they’d likely be making themselves even more vulnerable while trying to protect each other—made worse when they were actually involved in combat.

Eventually, Pj and Louise had accepted their fate and the fact that they weren’t going to be able to change Phil’s mind. They still seemed pretty peeved about it all, though Phil wasn’t trying to do anything to assuage their anger. He was much too distracted.

Dan didn’t mind. He would be there for Phil tonight—he would be the one to keep Phil safe, to assure that everything went smoothly.

—

Dan squinted in the dim lighting as Phil pulled irritably at the neck of what looked like an oversized, gray potato sack. It was undoubtedly itchy. The prisoners’ uniform was definitely the lowest budget possible. Dan didn’t feel at all prepared for invading a prison and then somehow escaping, but he put on a brave front for Phil’s sake. His own uniform felt disconcertingly familiar. He felt as if he was back in Omashu, training with the rest of the soldiers. The uniform had always been strangely comfortable, despite looking like it wouldn’t be. He almost felt guilty for wearing such refined clothes when Phil was in a prison outfit.

“Put your hands down,” Dan snapped. It was all for show. They were both nervous, proven in the way their eyes darted to each other anxiously, in they way they bounced their knees. Currently, they were sat on a prison caravan with other soldiers and prisoners headed on their way to the Fort, as everyone called the prison. There was a mixture of expressions on all the earthbenders’ faces: determined, dejected, defeated. The few soldiers on board were all wearing their masks so it was impossible to tell how they were feeling, though a few lounged on the hard wooden seats of the caravan and others stood stiffly or leaning against the walls.

Dan was just surprised they’d managed to make it onto the car. Their entire plan was rushed and unstable, and they were mostly trusting their instincts to get them out of any situations that arose. Pj and Louise had waited with them by a road that cut through the forest, all of them hidden behind trees and bushes. When finally the prison caravan had rolled by, as it did once a day—which they’d learned from poking around the village for answers—Phil had effectively halted it. He’d raised the earth in front of one of the wheels, the ostrich-horses attached to it stuttering to a stop as the car had stopped moving.

“What the fuck?” someone inside of it had said before opening the door and peering out. It was a guard, thankfully on the shorter side, and he’d actually climbed out of the caravan to examine the wheels. He’d ducked down beside the front wheel and saw seeing the raised earth before it—obviously the work of an earthbender. “Who did this?”

There had been silence from inside the car. “Who the fuck earthbended? I’ll cut off your hands!” There’d been an uneasy murmur from inside the car as the earthbenders had shuffled around restlessly, denying that it was them.

“You,” the guard had spat, pointing to the nearest prisoner, the one who’d been sitting directly over the wheel. “It must’ve been you.”

With that he’d dragged the man out of the car, slamming the door behind him angrily. Dan had felt disgusted at the whole treatment, though it hadn’t stopped him from thanking his lucky stars that everything was going so well. The guard’s hand had lit with a harsh fire and the prisoner had whimpered. That’s when they’d broken in.

They’d done it quickly, Pj shooting into action and sending water through the mouth of the guard’s mask, choking him. He’d stumbled backwards, his hands coming up in confusion, and Phil had leapt forward and yanked off his helmet and mask, immediately smacking him atop the head with a rock. Not hard enough to kill, but enough to knock the man out. The prisoner had simply watched all of this with squinted eyes, still unadjusted from the light outside the car, which was extremely dim on the inside. He’d opened his mouth as if to speak but Dan had shook his head, raising his finger to his lips.

Meanwhile, Phil had been stripping the soldier of his uniform. Dan had gestured the prisoner forward, and he’d rose unsteadily but complied. Dan had explained quickly, as silently as he could, and then the prisoner and Phil had switched clothes while Dan had pulled on the soldier’s uniform. Once they were all situated, they’d sent the prisoner to hide with Pj and Louise with instructions to run, and gotten back onto caravan themselves.

“You cut off his hands?” one of the soldiers had grunted.

“Nah,” Dan had answered flippantly.

“Then what?” 

Dan had forced himself to laugh. “That’s for me to know.” He’d then shoved Phil harshly into his seat, Phil whimpering with the impact. Another guard had barked with laughter.

“Did you do something to his dick?” he’d asked, practically salivating with the thought of pain inflicted on others. It was sickening. Dan had just laughed in response, letting it be his answer.

The journey was long, though, and eventually Dan had sat down next to Phil, making sure to bark, “Scoot over,” when he did. The caravan was completely silent, void of conversation as well as light, and Dan had used that opportunity to hold Phil’s hand. The ride was long, though Dan couldn’t tell if it felt that way because it truly was or because they had nothing else to occupy themselves with.

Finally, though, they seemed to be slowing down, hopefully entering the Fort. From there their plan ended. Now they would have to make it up as they went, would have to hope that prisoners didn’t get tortured in here. Dan would do anything to keep Phil safe, though he realized that might be hard in a prison camp.

When they finally rolled to a stop the door flung open, revealing another soldier, and all the prisoners flinched at the sudden light. None of the soldiers did, however, the eye-holes of their masks covered with a special film that filtered light, letting their eyes adjust easily.

“Everyone out,” the soldier barked. All the prisoners filed out of vehicle, the soldiers moving with them, standing guard as they all lined up outside. A head count was performed on the prisoners before they were each assigned rooms.

“A4,” the solider that’d retrieved them from the caravan said, pointing at the first prisoner in line. He continued down it. “B6. C17. D11.”

He pointed at Phil. “A2.” Phil nodded. The soldier paused, about to move onto the next soldier, but he stayed looking at Phil.

Oh fuck.

“Are you getting cheeky with me?” the soldier hissed. None of the other prisoners had nodded or done anything to indicate that they’d heard which room they were assigned to. Why hadn’t Phil been watching them, imitating them?

“No, sir,” Phil said quietly, staring at the ground.

“Look at me when I address you!” the soldier barked, reaching out and grabbing Phil’s chin. He yanked his head up, looking into Phil’s eyes. “Are. You. Getting. Cheeky?”

“No, sir!”

Dan was just praying that Phil wouldn’t earthbend reflexively. Soon they’d be inside the large metal prison and there’d be nothing around for Phil to bend, but out here…

The soldier scoffed and moved onto the next prisoner (“B9.”) and Dan felt himself breathe again. They were okay. They’d get through this.

The prisoners were then lead through the gate and into the metal prison courtyards, and then to the building and presumably, their rooms. Dan and the other newly arrived soldiers stayed while the captain turned to talk to them. It was the usual shit that Dan remembered from camp, basically a long winded speech giving them basic instructions and telling them not to fuck up. Afterwards they were sent to guard the hallways of the prison, told to continuously walk up and down the hallways and to keep an eye out for suspicious behaviors.

Dan thanked the gods that they were assigned guard duty and not something else. He followed the rest of the soldiers down the hall, sure to keep a lookout for Phil. He would just have to find room A2 now.

—

Phil was shivering. He couldn’t help it, the prison uniform was incredibly thin and ragged, doing nothing to contain any body heat. Not to mention the fact that he was literally in a metal box, which was obviously cold as well. He’d never felt so vulnerable before, unable to feel the earth anywhere around him. He felt like he’d lost a sense, a loss so jarring it was as if he could no longer hear or see.

He was shoved unceremoniously into the room A2, already occupied with three other prisoners. This was where the plan truly started, where Phil’s role came into play. He just had to figure out where his father was now, and then it’d be up to Dan to save him. He could do this.

None of the prisoners were talking. They were all curled up on their respective beds, which was basically a bed roll laid out over hard springs. They barely even glanced up as Phil appeared.

He listened to make sure the guards really walked away, and then he focused on the people in front of him. He cleared his throat.

One prisoner turned his head, letting his cheek rest on his upturned knees, and blinked at Phil a few times. He looked about Phil’s age, maybe younger. “Poor soul,” he muttered. “You look like you still have hope.”

Phil was taken aback. “You don’t?”

A harsh laugh greeted him. “I can’t even remember what hope feels like,” said another prisoner, this one older. Phil swallowed uneasily.

“Listen,” he said. “I came here on purpose. I’m looking for my father.”

The younger one frowned. “That was a stupid decision. You’ll never get out of here.”

Phil huffed in annoyance. “Please, just tell me. Do any of you know him? Lester?”

As one, the prisoners—even the one who hadn’t deigned to speak to Phil—stiffened. “He’s the only one around here who never lost hope,” the older prisoner said softly. Phil couldn’t keep the smile from invading his face, heat warming his heart. He knew it! Of course his father wouldn’t give up hope, he was the greatest earthbender alive!

“So much good it did him,” the third, previously silent, prisoner said. Phil paused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Silence.

“Excuse me?” Phil said, his words kind of echoing in his ears. Or maybe it was just the metal room.

“Poor soul,” the young prisoner said again. Or perhaps it was just an echo.

“What?” Phil said. Confusion was clouding his head, and something strange was stuck in his throat, something that felt like unease or… or fear.

“You’re too late,” the older one finally answered. “Two weeks too late.”

“He shouldn’t have talked back to that guard,” the third, gruff prisoner said again. Phil couldn’t breathe. It was something he’d known how to do all his life, something that was innate, inborn, something that you didn’t have to _know_  how to do… And yet Phil _couldn’t breathe_. He couldn’t do it, had forgotten how or was possibly broken. Either was something was _wrong_.

“I’m sorry,” the young one finally whispered. “He talked about you sometimes.”

Phil slapped his hands over his ears. He didn’t care. He didn’t want to hear. They were _wrong_. Of course they were wrong! Could they please just stop talking about his father in the past tense? As if he was… as if he was…

“Phil!”

Phil jerked, spinning around. A guard was standing outside the door, peering through the metal bars. Fear gurgled in Phil’s stomach before he registered the fact that he’d said Phil’s name. And Phil had heard it, somehow, even though his hands were over his ears and something was roaring loudly inside of his head.

“Dan?” he whimpered, stumbling a step closer to the door and gripping the bars.

“We have to get out of here! Did you find out where your dad is yet?”

Phil felt himself choke and realized that somehow, with Dan’s appearance, he’d remembered how to breathe again. And now that air was choking him. Maybe he should just let it, maybe he should die and be with his father again.

“Phil? Phil what’s wrong?”

“His father’s dead,” one of the other prisoners informed.

“Shut up!” Phil hissed. “He _isn't_.”

Dan was silent, and then there was fire in his hand and the door was unlocking, opening. Fire was the key.

Phil felt as he was pulled into Dan’s arms, felt as he wrapped his own around Dan, as he crushed their bodies together and tried to keep breathing. And in this horrible, metal prison, he could feel the small piece of stone strung around Dan’s neck, something that felt kind of like home. He hugged Dan even tighter. Gods, he loved him.

“We have to get out of here, Phil,” Dan said quietly. He’d taken off his mask without Phil realizing, and his hand was on Phil’s face, was angling it towards his own. “Okay? We have to get out of here. You have to hold yourself together until then.”

Phil nodded. He understood, of course. He could mourn later, he could fall apart later, but for now… His father wouldn’t want him to break into the prison just to become an actual prisoner, just to die. But gods, if he’d just known _sooner_. If he’d known two weeks ago!

“Phil,” Dan said again. “It’ll be okay,” he promised. Just like he’d promised they would save Phil’s father. And they couldn’t, they couldn’t save his father, but this was Dan. He trusted him. Dan had broken into the prison with him to save a person that he didn’t even know. It was okay if he couldn’t keep his promise, Phil would still trust him, would still believe in his promises. He really did love Dan.

And what a sickening way to realize he was in love. It’d taken the death of his father to realize that he already had exactly what he needed…

Dan lips were hot and sudden on his, drawing him out of his torment, keeping him present. He kissed Dan back, held him close.

“We have to go,” Dan said for a third time.

“Take us with you!” the younger prisoner said, jumping off of his cot and standing on thin legs. His face was alight with some sort of glow, some sort of wild craziness in his eyes…

Hope.

“Of course,” Dan said. “We’ll get everyone out.”

With that, he revealed the torches he’d stuffed into his uniform. Where he’d gotten them, Phil had no idea, and he tossed them to the prisoners after lighting them. Each prisoner flinched at the fire on Dan’s fingers, but he either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Unlock every door,” Dan instructed. “But don’t let them leave their rooms until you’ve unlocked them all. The more prisoners in the halls the easier it’ll be for you all to get away. You’ll have to storm into the court yard as one, from there you should be able to feel the earth outside the walls and use it.”

Phil could see the hope on all their faces, the hope that they’d let themselves relinquish to the cruel world. But it was back.

“Escaping is in your hands now,” Dan informed.

“What about you?” the younger one asked.

“We’ll be leaving now,” Dan replied. “Soon they’ll be sure to realize that there’s a firebender working against them. I don’t want to be here when that happens.”

Phil linked his fingers through Dan’s, unable to help feeling proud of him. He was so brave, and he’d come up with this plan all on his own, and so quickly too.

“Thank you,” the prisoner whispered, gripping his torch tightly.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Dan answered. “Right now there’s a gap in the patrol. If you hurry you should be able to unlock all the doors on this floor. Good luck.”

With that, Dan and Phil were hurrying down the halls, careful to keep their footsteps silent. Dan had pulled his helmet and mask back on, though he kept his fingers attached to Phil’s.

“We’ll steal one of the caravan’s ostrich-horses,” Dan whispered as he peered around yet another corner. After confirming it was clear he continued to lead Phil. “And then you and I won’t have to share ours every time we travel.”

“But I like sitting so close to you,” Phil admitted. Dan squeezed his hand in agreement. They were almost to the front, almost to the courtyard…

“Hey,” a guard said, appearing from around the corner. “Is this the one who’s getting punished?”

Dan fell into his roll immediately, dropping Phil’s hand before the other guard could notice. “He sure is. I was thinking it’d be better to do it in the courtyard.”

The other guard laughed. “I get what you mean. It’s more fun to let them try to outrun you before you burn them.”

Dan raised his hand, letting fire dance in his palm. “Oh, he won’t get far.” The guard laughed again before walking forward and clapping Dan on the shoulder. Just as he was passing, however, another guard appeared at the end of the hall, also with a prisoner in tow. The prisoner looked terrified.

“What’re you doing?” the guard still standing beside Dan asked.

“I’m on my way to punish this prisoner,” the second guard answered. “He was acting out.”

The first soldier glanced between Dan and the other guard. Phil swallowed thickly.

Dan grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the exit. The two soldiers behind them began shouting, chasing after them and throwing javelins of fire. Dan threw them right back.

Despite everything that was happening, despite the horrible mixture of emotions inside himself, Phil couldn’t help feeling proud of Dan. He was using his bending so easily, so reflexively. He didn’t appear scared of it at all.

Together they raced for the ostrich-horses, Dan ushering Phil towards it first and urging him to leap on. Meanwhile he continued to battle the two soldiers, the thundering of even more echoing from inside the metal building, obviously on their way to restrain him and Dan. Gods, what were they going to do? There were so many soldiers coming, and already he could do nothing to help as Dan battled these two.

Dan was carefully backing up towards the creature, getting ready for Phil to pull him onto it, when the doors to the prison burst open once more. Phil prepared to be burned alive.

Out poured hundreds of earthbenders, all cheering and yelling, suddenly free. The two soldiers turned around, yelling in outrage and surprise, and Dan used their distraction to leap onto the steed with Phil’s help.

Phil kicked it into action immediately, send them flying towards the exit, his entire body yearning towards the earth beyond it. He could hear the commotion from the courtyard all around them, saw fire flying through the air, obviously due to more soldiers appearing. But they were easily outnumbered by the prisoners, if only they had earth…

The gate was closing, the one opening in the metal wall surrounding the metal building. They weren’t going to make it in time, it was closing too fast and they were moving too slow.

Phil felt for the earth, reached as far as he could and _pulled_.

He never would’ve guess the he could do it. The earth got up and _moved_ , tumbled through the gate and fucking ripped it off its hinges. Rock and earth cascaded through the opening, arming all the prisoners with what they’d been deprived of for so long, at which they let out a cheer. And even as the ground continued to swarm in, like a tsunami of earth, a dark tunnel opened in its center, through which Dan and Phil raced.

“Holy shit,” Dan breathed, his arms wrapped tightly around Phil’s waist. “You’re powerful.”

Phil didn’t respond. He didn’t want to open his mouth, didn’t think he’d even be able to say anything. He knew if he opened his mouth he would start sobbing, would start mourning the loss of his father, would be unable to stop. But he couldn’t do that yet, it wasn’t time. He had to hold off for just a little longer.

—

It was late and Phil was asleep. He’d fallen asleep a few hours ago, having exhausted himself from crying. Pj and Louise had been just as disheartened and upset as Dan was to hear that they’d been too late to save Phil’s father.

Dan had held Phil for hours, had let Phil cry into his neck, had kissed the tears from his cheeks. He’d given Phil cup after cup of water, insisting that he needed it to stay hydrated. He’d let Phil fall asleep on him, stroking his fingers through his hair and kissing his forehead.

Now, Dan was walking around their little camp, stretching his legs. It was bewildering how at peace he suddenly felt with his bending. It’d finally settled within him, felt calm and kind, like something that was meant to be there. It no longer felt like it was sloshing against his insides, demanding to be let out, demanding to burn whatever it could. And it was all thanks to Phil, too. He wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.

Dan sat and stared up at the moon, exhausted but unable to sleep. His mind was too awake.

A branch snapped somewhere behind Dan and he whipped around, fire already crackling between his fingers. Phil held up his hands placatingly.

“It’s just me,” he whispered, before settling himself down next to Dan.

“How do you feel?” Dan asked, leaning against him lightly. Phil laughed.

“Like shit,” he admitted. “It’s kind of ridiculous. I thought he was dead for ten years. And yet finding out that he was dead… It shouldn’t hurt this much.”

“It’s not ridiculous,” Dan assured, tilting his head to look up at Phil. “It makes perfect sense.”

“Yeah, well…” Phil sighed. “I’ll be okay. My dad—I think he would’ve been proud of me. I also think he would’ve called me an idiot for trying to save him.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Phil laughed. “He probably would’ve done it while handing me a flower, too.”

“Tell me more about him.”

Phil grabbed Dan’s hand and played with his fingers. “He was an amazing earthbender. When I was little I thought he could do anything. He was the greatest teacher too—by the time I was eight I could earthbend better than most adults. And he always made those flowers for me.”

“What kind of flowers?” Dan asked.

“Just normal ones, I guess,” Phil said. “But they were always blue.” He picked up a seed then, holding it with one hand while his other held Dan’s. “And he would always tell me that flowers were magic. I would scoff and demand how, and he always had a different answer.”

“He sounds incredible,” Dan said, squeezing Phil’s hand softly. Phil smiled.

“He was. But I think the trick to it was actually just love.” And with that, Phil closed his eyes, and Dan watched as the seed between his fingers suddenly bloomed, bursting forth until he was holding a bright blue flower between his fingers, which he handed to Dan.

“Phil…” Dan whispered, gazing at the flower, astonished.

“I’m in love with you,” Phil said, his face so serious, so perfectly honest. Dan’s eyes welled up with tears as he launched himself into Phil’s arms and clung to him as tightly as he could.

“I love you too.”


	16. Chapter 16

By some kind of miracle, Louise and Pj had decided to go into town by themselves. They’d claimed that it was for best friend quality time, that they’d wanted to walk around and browse the shops, but Phil was pretty sure they were just as aware of the sexual tension between him and Dan as they were.

Ever since professing their love (which made Phil feel flustered whenever he thought about it) they'd both been itching for sex. Every touch between them, no matter how casual, felt electrified. Not to mention every time night rolled around they ended up pressed against each other in a sleeping bag, which wasn't good for their patience at all.

Now, with their friends gone, there was no helping the fact that they couldn't wait any longer. They’d fallen upon each other almost immediately, kissing passionately and gasping into each other’s mouths.

“Are you sure they won’t come back?” Dan said, breaking away from Phil and tilting his head upward, partially to breathe and partially to try to get his mouth out of Phil’s reach. Phil was impatient though, and if he couldn’t get to his lips he would get elsewhere, and so he ducked down and started kissing and sucking on Dan’s neck, relishing in the small sounds he made, in the way his fingers clenched Phil’s shirt. The angle was all wrong though, Dan’s neck was so far away from Phil that he was forced to crane over—his neck aching in the process. Growing impatient, Phil pushed Dan up with the earth, until Dan was taller than Phil and his neck was in perfect reach. Dan making a surprised sound as he did.

“Doesn’t matter,” Phil finally responded, as he kissed his way further down Dan’s neck, making the ground beneath Dan grow taller and taller as he did, so that he wouldn’t have to duck. “I’m not stopping even if they do.”

Dan made a kind of gasping sound at this, and Phil wanted to hear it again so badly that he reached up and yanked Dan’s shirt up and over his head, letting the cold air attack Dan’s torso, his nipples peaking in response.

“Phil!” Dan protested. “It’s cold!”

“Then make a fire,” Phil said, already distracted with kissing him again. Dan had so much bare skin on display, and while he seemed a bit self conscious because of it, Phil opted to simply ignore him and put his mouth back on him, hoping he would get the message. It was impossible to miss the burns all over Dan’s torso, some of them in the shape of finger prints, others seemingly random. He couldn’t help but think that it couldn’t have been Dan who’d done this, that it must’ve been someone else. Dan clearly didn’t want to talk about it, however, and so Phil moved on, taking only a moment to flick his tongue over Dan’s nipples (Dan whimpered) before he continued kissing down, down, down.

Dan, evidently, was cold enough to make a fire. A blazing wall of warmth surrounded them soon after, which worked as privacy as well as a personal heater. Occasionally it flickered—usually when Phil sucked especially hard on his skin—the fire either dimming down as Dan was distracted or flaring up as he was overwhelmed.

It was a true testimony to his laziness, or maybe just his greed, that he continued to propel Dan higher and higher into the air instead of craning downward. Still, seeing Dan half naked and high up in the air was, for some reason, doing it for Phil. He made Dan sit, eventually, and from there raised him an appropriate amount for Phil to be lined up with his waist. He couldn’t help smirking up at him.

“Phil,” Dan breathed, his eyes blown wide from the effect of Phil’s fingers and mouth having been on him. “If you’re about to do what I think you’re about to do…”

Phil ignored him, instead placing his hands on Dan’s knees and slowly trailing them upward. He didn’t break eye contact with Dan the entire time, as his hands slowly inched up Dan’s thighs, his fingers splayed. He smirked as Dan’s breath hitched, his hands extremely close to where Dan wanted them, but he stopped. The soft material of Dan’s trousers was barely doing anything to conceal his hard on. Dan seemed mildly embarrassed to have himself so on display, though the rosy tint to his cheeks could just as easily have been attributed to arousal.

Phil dug his fingers into Dan’s thighs slightly, watching as Dan swallowed thickly. He could see Dan’s pulse in his throat, could see how unevenly the shorter boy was breathing, could _hear_  his pants, even.

“What do you want?” Phil asked quietly, finally moving his hands again. But now he was moving them down, further away, and he was grinning as Dan’s mouth dropped open, as if he wanted to protest but couldn’t find the words.

“I—” Dan managed, before his voice broke. He blinked harshly, swallowing a few times to try to get it back. Phil took mercy on him and moved his hands back up, closer and closer until his finger tips were just barely brushing Dan’s crotch. “I… Phil!” Dan said, his hands reaching out as if to grab Phil’s and press them against himself. And Phil wasn’t going to be having any of that.

With a single thought Phil had earth manacles clamped around Dan’s wrists and had them pinned against the rock beneath him. Dan made a small sound of protest before he tried to arch his hips up. And so Phil pinned his that as well.

“Please,” Dan groaned, bending forward until his head was hanging in the space between the two of them. Phil took mercy on him, though he took it slowly. He reached up and undid the ties of Dan’s trousers, moving as slowly as he was able to make himself, Dan practically vibrating in anticipation the whole time. Finally Phil was sliding Dan’s trousers and pants off, all at once, dragging them over his thighs and down, down, down, until they were trapped around his ankles. Dan’s cock was leaking precome and Phil hadn’t even touched him yet.

“You seem a little impatient,” Phil purred, and he placed his hands on Dan’s knees again, sliding them upward. Dan just whimpered.

“You’re evil,” he finally said, finding his voice. “You’re evil and you don’t love me.”

Phil laughed, leaning forward and placing a kiss on the inside of Dan’s knee. “Is that so?”

“Yes,” Dan scoffed. “And you’re mean. And—and rude. And horrible.”

“I’m horrible?” Phil asked, his fingers crawling up Dan’s skin.

“Yes,” Dan breathed. And then he moaned. “/Yes/.” Phil’s hand had finally wrapped around his cock—only barely, only lightly, and yet Dan was already falling apart. He stroked it slowly, using Dan’s precome as lube and teasing the head with his thumb. “Fuck,” Dan whispered.

Phil, meanwhile, was busy kissing up the inside of his thigh, so close that Dan had to know what was coming, had to know what Phil was planning to do—

“Fuck!” Dan exclaimed as Phil wrapped his lips around the head of Dan’s cock, his tongue flicking over the slit. Dan was straining against his bonds, whining and whimpering as Phil gently suckled on him. He was doing everything that way—slow and gentle and soft, not giving it to Dan the way he wanted it. He was holding off, hard as it was, to work Dan up more and more. He wanted to make Dan so hot, to build him up so much that he exploded.

“More, Phil,” Dan demanded. Begged. Phil decided to comply, sinking down on Dan and swirling his tongue around, feeling Dan twitch in his mouth. While Phil sucked on him he let his hand sneak up Dan’s chest until he was rubbing his finger over his nipple, still covered in the slick from his cock. Then, all at once, he sunk all the way down on Dan’s cock, sucking hard, as he squeezed and tugged Dan’s nipple between his fingers.

Dan cried out loudly, thrashing against his handcuffs and panting wildly. “Phil!” Dan moaned desperately. “Please Phil, need my hands!”

Phil pitied him, and so he let the earth wrapped around Dan’s hands dissolve. Dan made a grateful sound, his hands instantly flying up and bunching in Phil’s hair. “You should stop before I come,” Dan finally said, pulling on Phil’s hair gently. Phil pulled off of him.

“I want you to come in my mouth,” he answered, his voice scratchy. Dan had to visibly control himself at that statement, but finally he shook his head slowly.

“I want us to come at the same time,” he said. “I want you to come inside me.”

Phil felt something inside of him _snap_  and before he could realize it he was tearing off his clothes and climbing onto the rock Dan was sitting on, not even thinking of just lowering Dan back to the ground.

“Fuck, Dan,” he whispered, his hot breath over Dan’s ear. “So hot. Gods, you’re beautiful.” He let the other cuffs pinning Dan down crumble as well, letting both of them scramble over the rapidly growing platform, suddenly big enough for both of them to lay down on. Phil even propelled their bag into the air, quickly pulling out all the supplies they would need.

“When the hell did you buy these?” Dan asked, surprised. Phil blushed.

“Pj stole them for us when he first found out we were dating,” he admitted. Dan’s face grew red at that, but they were both too far gone to think about it any longer. Soon Phil’s fingers were covered in lube and he was easing them slowly, one by one, into Dan. Dan was flat on his back while Phil was raised over him, watching his face as he fingered him.

“Stop watching me,” Dan said, tilting his head away from Phil’s, just as Phil touched something inside of him that made his face crumble and tore a low moan out of him.

“No,” Phil said simply, before reaching up and grabbing Dan’s chin, making him face Phil again. And then he pressed his fingers in deep again, smirking as Dan made that sound for a second time as he arched into the air.

“I’m ready,” Dan insisted, reaching down to grab Phil’s arm. “I just want you inside me.”

Phil quickly put on a condom, something of which Pj had given him plenty, and squirted some lube onto himself before lining up with Dan, whose pupils were blown wide, hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

“Do it,” he commanded, and Phil finally pushed forward, slowly sinking into Dan’s body, his warmth surrounding him and making him ache with the need to come already.

“Fuck,” he breathed, his fingers tightening on Dan’s thighs. “You’re so tight.” Dan was panting, his face scrunched up slightly in what looked like both pain and pleasure. Phil forced himself to stop moving, though his body was begging him to just start thrusting and never stop.

“No, keep going,” Dan said. “Stop once you’re all the way in.”

Phil complied, pressing forward even more until his hips finally bumped against Dan’s, until he was leaning over Dan and panting, Dan’s fingers pressed tightly into his forearms. Slowly, his grip loosened and his body relaxed, and he was instructing Phil to move again, both of them moaning as he did.

Soon enough Phil couldn’t help it anymore and he started to pick up the pace. He and Dan were panting into each other’s mouths, kissing when they remembered to and moaning and groaning the rest of the time.

“I’m getting close,” Dan whined, his fingers scrambling over Phil’s back. Phil nodded, leaning down to press a kiss onto his shoulder. He then reached down and wrapped his hand around Dan’s cock, making Dan whimper and arch up, up, up. The new angle had Phil thrusting in even deeper. He couldn’t suppress his groan as he started to slam into Dan with even more vigor, until they were practically bouncing on the rock, their bodies slick with sweat.

“Phil!” Dan cried out, his face pressed into Phil’s neck as his entire body stiffened and then started shaking, his legs wrapping around Phil’s body as he hugged him as tightly as he could. He came, pulses of it spurting between them as Phil continued to pound into him, Dan still shaking as he did. He followed right after, bearing down into Dan and holding him close, moaning into his skin, until they were both still and panting, lying bonelessly on the rock.

It took a few minutes for them to recover, both of them just sleepy and tangled with each other, warm and pliant. Dan’s fire had disappeared at some point, though they apparently had both been too far gone to realize. Phil was relieved to see that they were still quite alone, and he used to earth to raise their clothes up to them, though his limbs didn’t really want to cooperate.

They managed to pull their clothes on (or at least, the most important parts) before falling asleep. And if Pj and Louise thought it was strange that they were sleeping on a bed of rock raised from the ground and surrounded by scorch marks, they didn’t say anything.

—

“Something seems different about you two," Pj commented over breakfast. Dan was leaning amicably against Phil's side, which Phil was very much appreciating. Lately all he wanted to be doing was touching Dan, wanted to be pressed up against him in any way.

It'd been a little more than a week since their (failed) rescue, and every person they'd come in contact with so far had been talking about it—how all the earthbenders had somehow broken free. Despite being too late to save his father, Phil was still grateful that they'd been able to save all the others. He hoped that none of them had been recaptured, that they'd all gotten away safely.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Dan said calmly, primly lifting a forkful of eggs to his mouth. They'd been to town just the day before and had bought (yes, _bought_ ) a few delicacies such as eggs and other foods that went bad quickly. The ostrich-horse they'd stolen from the prison guards had had a saddle bag full of supplies—including money. It had felt incredibly relieving to walk into a market and know that they weren’t going to have to steal anything. They hadn’t had to come up with deceitful plans or lie their ways through gaining new supplies. They’d walked in like the rest of the shoppers, taking their time and actually enjoying their morning (though with their hoods pulled up enough to cover their faces).

Louise snorted. “You’re definitely more affectionate. Before you two would barely touch in our presence—it’s as if you’ve gotten more comfortable with each other.”

Phil exchanged a glance with Dan, snickering. Dan raised an eyebrow as if to say, _Should we tell them?_  Phil shrugged, _Why not?_

“Well,” Dan said slowly. “There’s kind of a reason for that.”

Pj perked up slightly, interest making him lean forward. “Spill.”

“Dan and I only started dating a week ago,” Phil said casually, though he was unable to keep himself from grinning as he said it. Pj blinked, obviously confused, and Louise’s eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at the ground, evidently trying to figure it all out.

“What?” she finally whispered. Dan burst out laughing, pressing his face into Phil’s shoulder as his body shook with laughter.

“Explain!” Pj demanded, scooting closer, hungry curiosity clear on his face.

“Phil and I didn’t run away together because of our relationship,” Dan said. Pj waved him on as if telling him to continue. Phil had a brief moment to pause and wonder just what exactly his friends would think of his and Dan’s relationship after learning how it’d all started in the first place. “I was kind of…”

Pj raised an eyebrow.

“Kidnapped.”

Louise gasped. “By _who_?”

Phil swallowed uncomfortably. “Me.”

“What the fuck,” Pj muttered.

“But you’re not,” Louise made a strange motion at Dan, kind of just flapping her hand at him. “Still kidnapped?”

“I mean—I kind of… stopped… being kidnapped a while ago.”

“What the fuck,” Pj repeated.

“What happened was Dan saw me earthbending and I was afraid he would tell somebody, so I just ran away and took him with me,” Phil explained. Louise looked dumbfounded.

“And now you’re in love?” she said incredulously. Dan blushed vibrantly.

“Er—yes.”

“I think that’s called Stockholm Syndrome,” Pj said thoughtfully, looking between the two of them critically.

Dan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, maybe. If he was better at kidnapping.”

“Hey!” Phil protested. “I kidnapped you pretty well.”

“You apologized as you did it,” Dan said, shrugging him off. Finally, Pj laughed, shaking his head as he did.

“So just to make sure—you _don’t_  want us to kick Phil’s ass and set you free?”

Dan kicked Pj in the knee. “Fuck off,” he laughed. Pj threw a chunk of his scrambled eggs at Dan, which landed in his hair. Phil carefully picked it out.

“Do me a favor and don’t tell your kids how you met,” Louise said, shaking her head disbelievingly. Phil blushed, almost overwhelmed with the mention of the future.

—

“Is it just me or is this town quiet?” Dan muttered, as they walked down yet another oddly empty street. Every corner they turned Phil was expecting to see people outside—neighbors chattering and children running through the streets. Instead everything was totally abandoned except for the odd person walking down the street, each of whom had scrambled off into the shadows upon seeing them.

“I think it’s just you,” Louise said sarcastically, before she finally paused and looked behind them defiantly. Phil didn’t blame her, he was getting the same exact feeling—something wasn’t right here. He kept glancing over his shoulder as well, afraid something was going to be following them.

“We should hurry up and get out of here,” Phil suggested, searching the windows of buildings and the alleys between them.

“Let’s go and get our supplies then,” Pj suggested. They were here to stock up on food and water before taking another long journey through the forest. Phil couldn’t help wondering where they were traveling to or if they just planned to travel indefinitely. Technically they were in hiding, every journey into a town dangerous for them, though they felt relatively safe with their hoods up and faces covered. But Phil couldn’t deny that constant travel would be sure to exhaust him eventually, that’d one day he’d want to stop and settle. It wasn’t as if he could just go and buy a house though, and he definitely couldn’t ever return to his home in Omashu. Perhaps they could build some house out in the forest, close enough to a nearby town to stalk up when they needed to. And maybe he could find a way to make some money as well—he didn’t want to have to steal things his whole life. Even now they were being sure to preserve what money they had from that ostrich-horse, careful to buy the cheapest selection of what they wanted, careful to be prudent with what they spent.

“Should we split up?” Louise suggested. “Get our supplies faster?”

“Sounds good to me,” Dan answered, before taking a decisive step towards the end of the street. “C’mon Phil.”

“Why do we always split up the same way?” Pj questioned, obediently stepping towards Louise’s side even as he did. “Always you two and me and Louise.”

“Do you not like me?” Louise scoffed, and Pj elbowed her in the side.

“I’m just curious,” he insisted.

“It’s so we can sneakily kiss while we’re on our own,” Dan said, before snaking his arm through Phil’s and leading him away.

“Even before you were dating?” Pj called. Dan simply turned and stuck out his tongue, at which Pj rolled his eyes.

Phil turned the corner with Dan, getting his arm free from Dan’s and linking their hands together instead. They hung freely between them, swinging slightly as they walked. Dan sent him an almost shy smile as he squeezed Phil’s hand lightly.

“Y’know,” Phil started, a questioning lilt in his voice, “What are we gonna do if even the vendors aren’t out?”

Dan hummed thoughtfully. “Know that something really is wrong.”

Phil laughed, leaning into Dan’s side, before a figure stepped around the corner a little ways before them. They were dressed in a firebender uniform.

Dan, quick as a whip, yanked his hand out of Phil’s and stepped swiftly to the side, his entire demeanor changed. He was standing ramrod straight, stiff as a bored, his face morphed into an expression of bland disinterest.

Phil just felt confused. What the hell was going on?

“Daniel,” the figure spoke. Dan didn’t acknowledge it in any way other than raising his hand to his chest in a sign of respect.

In the blink of an eye, without Phil even having a change to prevent it, a ginormous wall of unforgiving flames surrounded the three of them, crackling so tall and harshly that the fire was blue, that Phil’s skin tingled with pain even while they were all towards the center of the encirclement. Dan flinched violently as the wall appeared, though he immediately returned to his stiff posture.

“I’m disappointed in you, Daniel,” the firebender said. The familiarity in his voice was unsettling, as well as the way Dan was acting. How could his entire personality be set aside with the appearance of one person?

“I’m sorry for disappointing you,” Dan said, his voice bland. Monotone. Soldiers appeared all around them, walking through the wall of flame easily, surrounding them and taking away any chance they had left for escape.

Phil thought he should do something, should help them escape somehow anyway. If anything, he needed to make Dan stop acting so _strange_. Just as he was deciding that there might actually be some sort of chance for them, that maybe he could make Dan plunge into the earth and follow him somehow, he felt something very hard hit the back of his head, and the the world felt very soft. Including the ground, as it rose up to meet his body.


	17. Chapter 17

Dan cried out, a mixture of terror and outrage, as Phil crumbled to the ground. A soldier behind him had clunked him on the head with the butt of his sword. He took a stumbling step towards Phil before he remembered himself—remembered where he was, who he was in front of.

Dan forced himself to stop, to halt in his tracks and stand straight. He took deep breaths as he stared at the ground beneath his feet, as he slowly turned away from Phil and faced the man in front of him.

The man chuckled lowly, likely bathing in the absolute control he had over Dan. He felt so powerless, so weak and unable. He couldn't do anything to save himself, much less Phil. And now escape was definitely impossible. Dan wouldn't let himself be separated from Phil, wouldn't let a single person lay a finger on him again. He could feel fire crackling through his body, possibly escaping from his fingertips, but he couldn't help it. He was just so angry! He wanted to pummel all the soldiers around him into the ground—especially the one who'd hit Phil already.

"Daniel." Dan looked up, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. Were his legs shaking?

"Father," he responded. General Howell grinned wickedly.

"Take him away," his father commanded. Dan's eyes widened with panic as two sets of hands clenched around his arms, already pulling him backwards. Dan couldn't even fight back, couldn't even make any noise to protest. "And his friend too."

Despite everything, and despite how incredibly selfish it was, Dan felt relieved. At least he wouldn't be separated from Phil.

Another pair of soldiers approached, each carrying the reins for the ostrich-horses pulling a prison wagon. It was much smaller than the one Dan had only recently been in, cramped and uncomfortable looking. And this time Dan wasn’t going to be on of the people guarding it (or at least pretending to).

He didn’t bother to struggle as he and Phil were loaded into the vehicle. He knew it was pointless when his father was around, knew there was nothing else they could do other than cooperate. It was ridiculous how he and Phil kept having their plans ruined, kept getting kidnapped or trapped or outsmarted. He just wanted to settle down with his friends out in the woods somewhere, was that really so bad? That he didn’t want to be a soldier? That he didn’t want to operate under his father and hurt innocent people?

Dan grunted as the small wooden prison-car door slammed behind him, hitting him as it did. There were no benches or anything, just a tiny amount of floorspace on which Phil was already crumpled. The soldiers had just tossed him in here unceremoniously, uncaring that they were hurting him, that they’d already hit him on the head once and he didn’t need other injuries on top of that.

The car started to rumble along and Dan sank to the ground, carefully rearranging himself and Phil until he was hugging Phil to his his chest, Phil’s back pressed against his stomach. He carefully held Phil, gently shaking him from time to time and trying to persuade him to wake up. Phil remained completely unconscious, proving that he really had been hit quite hard on the head. He was still breathing steadily, thankfully, though it wasn’t enough for Dan’s anxiety to go down any.

This was all his fault, anyway. He should’ve known to be more careful, should’ve known that his father would be suspicious after such a high-scaled prison break-out. Of course he’d be in the area. And of course he’d have his eyes out for Dan, having known that he and an earthbender were together. Dan was an idiot and he’d gotten the both of them captured and now he wasn’t even strong enough to do anything about it.

He could only hope that Pj and Louise would be able to help them out of this situation somehow—preferably sooner rather than later. He sighed and settled in for a long ride, hugging Phil closer to himself as he did. Whatever was coming wasn’t going to be good, likely for either of them, and it was only a matter of time before the panic really set in and this overwhelming defeated sort of calm ended. He hadn’t seen his father in years, having been sent of the soldier camp simply to be gotten rid of. His father had despised him for as long as he could remember, always sneering down his nose at the sight of his wretched son.

His father had never bothered to hide the fact that he hated Dan, always insisting for Dan to try harder, to be better. “No son of mine is scared of fire,” his father had once spat, after commanding Dan to show him his firebending progress and seeing him do so tentatively. His father would’ve known how horribly his skills were coming along if he’d actually bothered to teach Dan, but instead he’d been assigned a firebending sensei to teach him. The man had been nice and patient, had explained to Dan carefully that the fire wouldn’t hurt him, that he could control it, until he could gently coax Dan into using his powers to their extent. But Dan’s father had barked at him to do it without any of that coaxing, as he always did, and no matter what Dan tried to tell himself the fear remained. And so he’d firebended horribly and been punished because of it.

He’d been punished a lot as a child, always by his father. That was probably the reason he’d developed a fear for fire in the first place. His father had never been afraid to set his hands aglow before laying into him, even for something as simple as walking informally through the halls or setting the dinner table incorrectly. Dan had all sorts of strange marks on his body from what he’d endured, though at first he’d done his best to combat them with medicines and remedies— he’d eventually given up.

At first being sent to the camp had seemed like it would be a blessing. He would be away from his father, away from his rage, for the first time in his life. Dan had been excited, though he’d hid it expertly. He’d even wished and hoped and dreamed of making some friends, having been so lonely growing up.

Of course, the camp hadn’t turned out to be anything like what Dan had expected. Instead it’d been full of bullies, both the soldiers and the commanders. Not to mention that he was expected to firebend all the time, which he’d had to sneakily devise ways to get out of.

No, he was not feeling very prepared for facing his father. He’d been told that he would be allowed back home once he’d finally showed some potential, once he’d stopped being such a failure of a son, but no letter had ever come in the three years Dan had been at the soldier camp. And he’d come to stop expecting one, too.

Now that he’d be seeing his father he couldn’t even fully visualize what might happen. Only that it would probably be brutal. Dan didn’t care. He could take it, whatever it was, as long as it was only him. He would do all that he could to keep Phil from having to endure it.

—

Dan must’ve fallen asleep as some point during the ride. It was idiotic of him, as now he was not only caught off guard but he had entirely no idea of how long they’d been traveling. He didn’t know how far away they’d ended up from their friends, which only spelt all kinds of trouble for them. Not to mention that if, by some miracle, they managed to escape, they’d have entirely no idea of where to go.

Phil was still good and unconscious, which made Dan all the more nervous. He pressed his face into the back of Phil’s neck, reaching up to card gently through his hair as they finally rumbled to a stop. He felt his muscles tighten in anticipation as the wooden door finally swung open, revealing a landscape lit only by the moon.

Dan was dragged unceremoniously from the prison wagon, Phil hauled up by some other soldiers behind him, and they were both escorted into a big metal building. Dan could feel the fear really building now, most of it directed towards Phil. Dan’s father was nowhere in sight, likely having disappeared into the facility some time before them. Dan had the horrible mental image of his father preparing a room, getting it all good and sorted out for torture.

He was led down various hallways, all made of cold metal—pristine and completely earthless. Phil would probably feel entirely unsettled when he awoke, surrounded by what would feel like nothing on all sides. Dan couldn’t imagine what it would be to have that kind of bending.

For Dan, his element was always with him. It was within him. He didn’t need to have it around to be able to bend it, he just had to summon it and project it outwards. But for Phil, he had to have the element already around somewhere. It probably felt amazing when he was actually outdoors; he could probably feel the earth and dirt all around him, probably felt completely at home, completely powerful. Dan had no idea what that felt like, but he also had no idea what it felt like to be separated from his element.

Finally, Dan was led into a small room with a metal table in it. There was some sort of brown cloth folded up on top of it, and Dan glanced behind himself only long enough to see the door shutting behind him and the soldier instructing, “Change.”

Dan considered not obeying him. He could light the clothes on fire, if he wanted. He could fill the entire _room_  with fire, could heat it up into some kind of furnace in his anger. The only drawback was that it didn’t really serve a purpose for him—there was nothing he nor Phil could benefit from it.

He sighed and tried to push the pulsing anger within him aside. He wouldn’t be able to think if rage overcame him, and his mind was possibly the only weapon he had against his father. He would never be able to best the man in a dual, his father’s flames would envelope him in seconds—but maybe he could outsmart him somehow. And to do so Dan had to stay calm, he had to stay cool and collected and keep his wits about him. It was really all he _could_  do right about now, and so Dan changed into the dry, itchy prisoner’s outfit and knocked on the metal door to signal he was done.

The door swung back open and Dan was seized again, back to being led through the many halls. He carefully glanced behind himself to make sure Phil wasn’t being mistreated. Phil was still good and conked out, his head dangling between the two soldiers who were carrying him, one of his arms around each of the soldiers. Dan thought that maybe it would’ve been better for him to have been the one knocked out, seeing as only one person was needed to carry him. The thought made a hysterical kind of laughter bubble up in his chest and Dan had to hold it in, figuring suddenly bursting into laughter might not bode well with the soldiers.

“What are you grinning at?” one of the soldiers demanded. Dan felt his expression freeze. Crap, he was grinning, wasn’t he? Slowly, he turned his face up, up, up to the soldier.

“Oh, nothing,” he said lightly. His only power in here was his mind, his ability to outsmart the others. “It’s just funny—my father’s fallen directly into my trap.”

Dan couldn’t see the soldier’s expression behind his mask, but he still heard the man’s surprised intake of breath, and he surely felt the way the soldier’s fingers dug more sharply into his arm. “Be quiet,” he hissed, before dragging Dan through the building at a much faster pace.

They finally arrived at the place they’d been journeying to. Dan knew that it wasn’t that this room was special in any way, that it wasn’t extravagant or extra torturous—the only added benefit of this room was that it was deep within the building and one of many identical rooms. It would be almost impossible for an outsider to find it.

Dan could do nothing as he was marched into one corner of the room and bound in chains. Each of his limbs were chained seperately and attached to the wall. Across the room, the same was being done to Phil. It looked kind of ridiculous, having two people chain an unconscious body so meticulously.

With the attention finally gone from him, Dan tested his bindings, trying to see if there was any weakness in them anywhere, if they were too big for him. They were extremely high quality, however, and Dan was sure that they were top-notch, that they wouldn’t be melted easily. After all, it probably wouldn’t work out very well if a firebender couldn’t torture someone with fire. Dan, though he didn’t like to admit it, felt disheartened. He was already dreading the way the chains and cuffs would heat up as his father was at it, until they were just as much a part of the torture as his fathers ministrations were.

A long time passed before anything changed. Dan spent the majority of it staring at Phil. He was thankful that the soldiers had at least propped him up against the wall, that they’d arranged him in a position that wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. He loved Phil so much. The feeling was so great and so strong that at times it felt like it was overwhelming Dan, like it was taking over his body. Love was the main pilot in his mind now, not escape, not survival, just _Phil_. He would do anything for Phil. He would fight any person, take any pain, go anywhere. And that’s why Dan had to think of some way to escape. He had to keep his mind carefully intact, even after his father began and the pain overwhelmed him. Because without his mind, Dan wouldn’t be able to do anything.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before his father finally entered the room. It was ridiculous, how Dan had been chained and forced to change into a pair of raggedy clothes, utterly useless against the cold metal room, while his father was dressed to the nines, looking impeccable as ever. Phil, at least, had been allowed to remain in his clothes own clothes. Still, as long as his father kept his attention on Dan everything would be okay.

“Daniel,” his father said in his deep timbre, sounding for all the world as if they were pleasantly meeting each other for dinner or something. It’d been years. And if Dan really thought about it, it was his own father’s fault that he’d turned out the way he did. It was his father’s fault that he’d been so scared of fire, so reluctant to bend. And yet all the blame had been shoved onto him. Perhaps his father just didn’t want to admit it—that he’d been the one to break his own child, his own soldier, his own toy.

Dan declined to respond, refused to play his game. He wouldn’t let his father play with him before the real event, wouldn’t let him derive any more pleasure from this than he had to.

“The silent treatment, eh?” his father said before chuckling darkly. “You should know how I don’t like that.”

And so he took a step towards Dan, and another. Soon enough Dan was screaming, straining against his bonds and struggling to get away from his father. Even throughout the pain, throughout the suffering, he managed to feel grateful that it was only him. He was glad Phil was unconscious for this, that he didn’t have to hear Dan’s screams.

But soon that gratefulness slipped away too. It was replaced with pain, everything was. Pain, pain, pain. Even his mind, his conscious thought, managed to slip away as everything was overwhelmed with that one word, that one feeling.

Pain.

—

Phil awoke to screaming. The strange thing was that it wasn’t even the first time. But this screaming sounded different. It sounded completely separate to any kind of screaming he’d heard before.

He’d heard outraged screams, screams of anger and defeat, screams determination and chase, screams of pain. But this was different.  
These were screams of absolute _suffering_. A kind of sound as if someone’s very soul were being ripped out through their mouth. Phil struggled to wake up properly, struggled to open his eyes and move and _help_  whoever it was, but everything about him felt sluggish. Not to mention that his head was throbbing viciously, worsened even by the screams.

He continued to fight, though, refused to give up. Phil breathed deeply and forced his eyes to open, made himself carefully take in the room he was in. He was chained. Everything around him was metal, which Phil could feel acutely. It was as if he were in a box of nothingness, as if nothing around him really existed.

Of course, Phil was only paying such close attention to this nothingness, to the coolness of the metal and the thickness of the chains, because he couldn’t comprehend what was happening on the other side of the room. There was a man, tall and straight-stranding, his hand outstretched. And then there was fire.

There was more fire than Phil could ever remember seeing. It was swirling and moving and pulsing like a living thing, like a starving creature willing to do anything to _consume_. As Phil watched, the entire cloud of fire seemed to condense, to pack tighter and tighter together until it was one long pillar of withering rope. With the cloud of fire mostly gone, mostly compact into the line of fire, Phil was able to see a small figure curled up on the floor. The man raised his tool and whipped it down, letting the fire lash harshly against the figure, who’d body rebounded against the floor. Screams wrenched through the air and Phil felt shivers crawl down his entire body.

Who was evil enough to even make a whip out of fire? To _use_  it? To be the one making a real-live person scream like that?

Phil squinted at the huddled figure, feeling panicked for some reason. He couldn't quite remember why he was here or how he’d gotten here. He’d been somewhere… in a town? But why? And why was he here now?

The whip came down for a second time and Phil tried to cry out, tried to yell at the man to stop, but his body was still entirely too uncooperative. He couldn’t move his lips, couldn’t force the words out.

He’d been in a town. But there’d been something wrong with it, something jarring and unsettling. It’d been… it’d been…

 _Crack_. The whip thundered down on the poor person, whose screams sounded strangled.

The town. It’d been _wrong_ , somehow. Utterly unsettling—something about it.

 _Crack_. “Stop,” a broken sounding voice said. Quietly. Phil realized it was his.

It’d been empty! The town had been empty of people, completely abandoned seeming! And he’d been surrounded by firebenders, he and Dan had been—

 _Crack_. Oh gods, _Dan_! It’d been him and Dan! And so that was… that was… _Crack_.

“ _Stop_!” Phil cried. Sobbed. His heart felt as if it’d been torn out of his chest, left to flounder somewhere separate from him. His entire body seemed to inflate with sheer _panic_  and _fear_. It was _Dan_  making those sounds, his poor, sweet Dan. He was the one screaming like his soul was getting torn away, like pain was twisting and threading throughout every fiber of his being. And Phil couldn’t let that happen— _wouldn’t_  let that happen. Not to Dan.

The firebender had heard him, somehow, over the screams. There was a blissful pause, a brief, wonderful respite, as the man turned to face Phil. There was something about him, something about the way Dan had seemed oddly familiar with him…

“Well, well, well,” the man said lowly, taking slow steps towards Phil.

“No,” Dan moaned quietly. The man ignored him.

“The great earthbender finally awakes,” he said tauntingly. He threw his arms out, as if to express the utter absence of earth around them. “How do you feel?”

“Stop hurting him,” Phil said boldly, trying to sit up as straight and tall as he could. Gods, how he longed to be outside right now. He would envelope this man in earth, would squeeze the life out of him, would fill his lungs with rocks. Phil would kill him for what he’d done to Dan.

“Oh? Would you rather I hurt you instead?”

“Yes.”

“No!” Dan cried, but he was weak. He couldn’t even sit up after all that’d been done to him.

“So brave,” the man sighed. “And it _would_  torture my son to see you in pain,” he mused. Phil’s eyes widened with realization. So _this_  was General Howell? Dan’s father?

“Please! No,” Dan sobbed. Phil almost felt bad for offering to take the pain, hearing how defeated and broken Dan sounded, but he couldn’t let Dan get hurt like that anymore.

“My, my, you two really are in love,” the general said, tacking on a laugh at the end of it. Phil simply glared at the man. “That’s the best part of this whole thing, you realize. No matter who I’m hurting, the both of you suffer.”

“Then hurt me,” Dan begged. Phil shook his head, maintaining eye contact with General Howell. The general turned back around and stalked towards Dan. Phil groaned, closing his eyes as the screams started up again. Dammit! What could he do? What could he _do_?

He was powerless in here! Everything was metal! He could feel it even more with his eyes closed, as he concentrated and tried to reach out, tried to find earth. He searched and searched and searched, concentrating with all his might, sure he wouldn’t find anything, when—

Phil had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from cheering.

He opened his eyes and concentrated, knowing he’d have to be careful, have to time it perfectly. He waited, through Dan’s screams and General Howell’s movements, until finally the fire expanded around Dan again, as it had been when Phil had first awoke. He knew that now was his chance.

Phil closed his eyes and concentrated once more, _feeling_  for the small rock dangling from Dan’s neck. And then he _pulled_ , tugging it loose from Dan and sending it flying across the room. Phil caught it in his hand before quickly opening his eyes and making sure it hadn’t been noticed.

Phil looked down at the heart-shaped rock in his hand. His father had always been able to make flowers bloom with just a little piece of dirt. Phil had coaxed one out of a seed the day before. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to go from that to making one out of practically nothing in a day, but he would have to. There was no time for him to be weak, for him to be unsure of his abilities. He’d just have to take a chance and _do it_.

“Stop!” Phil yelled again, hoping General Howell would enjoy the torment of them seeing each other in pain to stop and walk this way. Phil guessed right, and Dan’s father turned to face him with a smirk, advancing towards Phil.

Whereas before Dan had been crying and calling for his father to stop, this time he was silent. He’d obviously felt the necklace snap off his neck, must’ve known that Phil had some sort of plan.

Phil clenched his hand around the small rock in his palm, knowing he wouldn’t be able to give himself away. He’d have to time everything perfectly—after all, he only had one chance, only one shot at what he was about to do. If he failed there’d be no saving them—at least not any time soon. He had no idea if or when saviors would show up, it was all up to him and Dan to save themselves.

“How trivial, to feel sad for another’s suffering,” Dan’s father sighed dramatically. “Are you not thankful that you’ve yet to be hurt?”

“Leave Dan alone,” Phil said icily. Dan’s father, apparently overcome with amusement at the fact that he and Dan loved each other, that they didn’t want one another to be hurt, threw his head back and laughed. Phil took action immediately.

He opened his clenched fist and sent the rock flying through the air. Before Dan’s father could stop laughing Phil sent it into his mouth and lodged it in the man’s throat. General Howell coughed, raising his hand to his throat and coughing again, trying to clear the small rock from his body. But Phil held on, he kept it there as he closed his eyes and _concentrated_.

He could do it, he could do it, he could do it. He could do it because he loved Dan, because this was what it would take to save him.

When he’d made the flower bloom for Dan, he’d thought about how much he loved him, about how much he wanted the flower to bloom for him. So he thought about that again, except now it was also to save him, to protect him. He’d make a flower again, this time even bigger and better.

Phil knew it had worked when the rock seemed to shudder under his grasp, when General Howell’s choking suddenly stopped and he sank to his knees with his hands at his throat. He was unable to cough because he was unable to get any air through his throat at all—not with a giant flower lodged in it.

Phil knew he should’ve felt something—should’ve felt guilt or maybe even remorse as the man’s face grew blue, as he sank to the floor completely and died. He knew that a person probably shouldn’t have felt relieved, possibly even _happy_ , to have ended a life—but he did.

“Phil,” Dan called.

“It’s okay,” Phil answered. “We’re okay.” Except that they wouldn’t be for very long if they couldn’t escape from their chains. Eventually soldiers would come looking for their general only to find him dead at Phil’s feet. Death by flower. Maybe Phil could convince them that the man had simply pulled a flower out of his pocket and shoved it down his own throat. After all, there was no proof that Phil had made it bloom in there. Barely anyone even knew that earthbenders, with a lot of patience and concentration, could grow plants.

“Maybe he has a key on him,” Dan suggested, obviously talking about his father. Phil strained against his bindings, trying to reach the man.

“I can’t reach him,” Phil finally announced. He just wanted to be free, wanted to run to Dan and hold him close and kiss his eyelids. He should’ve done something sooner, should’ve woken up sooner and saved Dan sooner.

“Hold on,” Dan said. And then fire erupted from his hands and propelled across the room, slamming into his father. The force of it was enough to send the body crashing into Phil, who wasn’t very keen on having a dead body touching him. Still, it had definitely worked in getting the man in reach of Phil, and Phil started digging through his pockets until he came across a promising looking key.

It wasn’t long before he had himself unchained and was hurrying across the room to do the same to Dan. They stayed huddled against the wall for a little while, simply holding each other close and kissing each other’s hands and faces, overwhelmed with relief that they were both okay.

“You look less hurt that I thought you would,” Phil said eventually, running his eyes over Dan’s form. There were burns on him but they didn’t seem quite as bad as Phil had been expecting.

“It’s harder to burn a firebender,” Dan conveyed. “And about halfway through, I started to just— _absorb_  his fire. I kept screaming so he wouldn’t catch on, but it didn’t hurt so much after that.”

Phil sighed into his neck. “I love you so much.”

They would escape soon. Phil knew they’d make it out okay—they had each other, after all. But for now they simply sat and held each other, catching their breath and getting ready for the escape they were about to perform.

Phil had to admit, for as often as they got kidnapped, they escaped just as much.


	18. Chapter 18

Dan hurried down the stairs, his mind preoccupied as he did so. The railing felt worn and soft under his hand, despite it having been built fairly recently His socked feet skidded a little on the similarly worn wood floor as he hurried towards the front door.

“Where are you going?” a voice called from behind him. Dan spun around only to see Pj peering out of the kitchen curiously.

“None of your business,” Dan said imperiously, before turning back around and marching towards the door. He decided that he wasn’t going to bother looking for shoes, seeing as he was in a hurry anyway.

Dan’s hand was on the door handle when something cold and wet smacked him in the back of the neck. He froze before turning around slowly, only to see a smirking Pj leaning against the kitchen’s doorway, his hand still raised. They kept vases all around the house specifically for waterbending purposes but it was times like these that Dan wished he’d boiled them into nonexistence.

Dan glared at his friend and flung out his hand, shooting fire his way. Pj deflected easily, a shield of water appearing between himself and Dan’s fire.

“ _Hey_!” a shrill voice shouted angrily from above them. Dan tilted his head upward, seeing Louise leaning over the banister on the second level. “What did I say about bending in the house?”

“It’s good practice?” Dan said with an innocent smile. Louise glared.

“Don’t. Do. It!”

Dan frowned at her, neither he nor Pj letting up on their attacks. And even while Dan was distracted talking to Louise, Pj had a string of water snaking towards him on the floor, which Dan put an end to with a blast of fire. Louise groaned angrily from above them.

Dan didn’t think she had any reason to be so worried. It was practically impossible for their bending to get out of hand, mostly due to their natural balance of elements along with the unwavering control they’d grasped over the last few months. By now Dan could light a candle from across the room and exhaust it in the same breath. Sure, their house was made of mostly wood, but Dan was confident in his ability to shut down a fire if one were to start. Even if he wasn’t confident, Pj was just as sure he’d be able to put it out with water.

Plus, their practicing was more beneficial to the house than harmful. After all, it was thanks to them that the floors were so soft, having taken so many blasts from the both of them.

“Take it outside,” Louise insisted. Dan sighed, finally letting his fire disappear. Pj followed suit.

“Nah, I’m late as it is,” he said sheepishly, backing towards the door once more. He really shouldn’t have taken the time to battle with Pj, but he couldn’t help it. They always ended up winding each other up and fighting until they were exhausted. It was a miracle that Louise had managed to stop them so early.

“Oh, where are you going?” Louise asked.

“None of your business!” Dan insisted, before turning and sprinting towards the front door.

“At least take your shoes!” she called, but Dan ignored her and slammed the door behind him, racing through the yard and towards the pen where they kept the ostrich-horses. He greeted his own ostrich-horse with a gentle pat before hopping onto it and spurring it towards the well-worn trail through the forest. Their house was well hidden, though they didn’t really have a need to hide anymore.

He shook his head as he rode, knowing that Pj and Louise would make fun of him if he told them he had another date with Phil. Plus Phil had told him it was a secret anyway.

Dan was pretty sure the only reason it even was a secret was to avoid the teasing they’d get from their friends in the first place. After all, they already lived together, already shared a room and were with each other almost all the time. Going on dates might seem silly, but it was always a fun occasion that they got to spend with just the two of them.

It’d been such a relief not having to be on the run the last couple of months. Or at least, Dan wasn’t. Ever since his father had been killed the wanted posters for him and Pj and Louise had been taken down. This had finally allowed them to find work in a nearby town, though they chose to live in the forest. Phil, technically, was still at large, though only because the Fire Nation still had it out for earthbenders. Still, the town they’d been working in was one that routinely ripped down wanted posters for the various earthbenders on the run. It was obvious that many people didn’t hold any contempt for them, which was relieving.

Still, it was better safe than sorry, and so Phil didn’t have a job—not openly, anyway. He _did_  grow flowers for Pj to sell in a stand in town on the weekends. Things were finally shaping up, they’d finally managed to find some peace and quiet.

Dan slowed down to a trot as he rounded the last bend in the path, coming into the familiar clearing he and Phil liked to visit. It was surrounded by trees on almost all sides, interrupted only by a babbling brook on one end. Phil was seated beside it now, his bare feet resting in the water and his shoes placed by his side.

“Hey,” Dan greeted, dismounting his steed and giving it a pat on the neck before approaching his boyfriend. It almost felt weird to refer to Phil in such simple terms when he felt like so much more.

“Hey,” Phil responded, tilting his head backwards and grinning at Dan upside down. “You’re late.”

“Completely not my fault,” Dan replied, toeing his socks off and walking directly into the water. He stood in front of Phil and held his hands out, which Phil took and used to pull himself up. There was a picnic basket by Phil’s side, presumably filled with food, which they both ignored for the time being. Phil wrapped his arms around Dan’s waist, leaning in close as he responded.

“Oh? So whatever happened was entirely out of your control?”

“Entirely,” Dan promised. Phil’s hand snaked up and twisted into the damp hairs at the back of Dan’s neck, still wet from Pj’s waterbending. He leaned even closer so that his lips were just barely touching Dan’s.

“Hmm,” he hummed, his fingers still twining through Dan’s hair. “So you and Pj weren’t fighting then?”

Dan grinned mischievously against Phil’s lips. “I would never fight with Pj.”

“Liar,” Phil growled, before pushing Dan backwards, the two of them immediately tumbling to the ground. The water soaked through Dan’s clothes immediately, the chill of it seeping through his skin.

“Phil!” Dan protested. “You got me soaked! It’s cold, you asshole!”

“You could dry it in a heartbeat,” Phil argued, though his lips were pressed against Dan’s neck, and his hot breath felt nice whereas the rest of Dan felt cold. “Plus my shins are wet too.”

“I won’t be d-drying that for you,” Dan said, his teeth chattering. Whether from the cold or the sensation of Phil’s lips at his neck, he wasn’t so sure.

“Then I’ll be angry,” Phil said in a low voice. “You don’t want that, do you?”

“I hate you,” Dan laughed, before squirming out from under Phil and pinning him down instead, climbing onto his lap in the process. Phil went willingly, though Dan was glad to see him flinch at the temperature.

“Hey,” Phil said suddenly, “I really wanted to be the first one to tell you the good news. You haven’t heard it yet, right?”

“What news?” Dan asked, pausing.

“Well it’s just a rumor,” Phil continued tentatively, but his eyes lit up in excitement and what looked like hope.

“Tell me!” Dan insisted.

“They say the avatar has returned,” Phil whispered. Dan’s mouth fell open. The avatar? The _avatar_? The one person who could bend all four elements, who’d been missing for a century? _That_  avatar?

“No way,” Dan whispered.

“They say he was found in a water tribe,” Phil continued. Dan couldn’t help it—he giggled. Excitement that the avatar might actually be alive, that things might finally start to change with his help, overcame Dan. His fingers were clenched in Phil’s clothes almost unconsciously as he thought about it. _The avatar_.

“I think things are really going to change, Phil,” Dan finally said. “I think things are going to get better.” He looked down at Phil, could feel the love and happiness radiating through him. Phil just smiled at him softly.

“I think it already has.”

Dan paused for a moment, blushing slightly at how sincere Phil sounded. Finally, he responded.

“You sap!” Dan shouted, before splashing him in the face with water. Phil spluttered in outrage before wrestling Dan back to the ground, the earth coming up to aid him _which was most definitely cheating_.

Still, Dan really didn’t think he could argue against Phil. After all, he hadn’t been this happy in as long as he could remember (and begrudgingly, Dan guessed that perhaps he had Phil to thank for it).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh it's finally over!! i really hope you've all enjoyed it!! i've been seeing all your comments and thank you so much for all the kind words <33
> 
> if you'd like to stick around for more of my writing, next week i'll be posting the first chapter of my next chaptered fic! i hope to see you all there! <3


End file.
